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More than four years after he was fired from “Saturday Night Live” for racist comments, Shane Gillis returned to the show Saturday, urging viewers not to investigate the reason for his firing before his first day on the job.
The comedian served as host of “SNL” on Feb. 24 after being fired as a cast member in 2019. Gillis referenced this at the top of his monologue, though without clueing viewers into the fact that offensive and racist comments led to his dismissal.
“Most of you probably have no idea who I am,” he said. “I actually got fired from this show a while ago, but please don’t look that up. If you don’t know who I am, please don’t Google that. It’s okay. Don’t even worry about it.” “.
He added: “Honestly, I probably shouldn’t be here.”
Gillis was hired as a cast member of “SNL” in 2019, but was fired days later before appearing in a single episode. At the time, she faced backlash for a 2018 podcast clip in which she used an anti-Asian slur. Executive producer Lorne Michaels said he did not know about the clip when he hired Gillis and thought the language the comedian used was “offensive, hurtful and unacceptable.” Gillis said at the time that she is a “boundary-pushing comedian” and that she would be “happy to apologize to anyone who was offended by anything I’ve said.”
New ‘SNL’ member Shane Gillisapologizes for using anti-Asian slurs in resurfaced video
The rest of Gillis’ monologue, during which he also joked that “every little boy is just his mom’s best gay friend” and talked about having family members with Down syndrome, seemed to generate mixed reactions in the room. At one point, Gillis said that the studio was so well lit that she could “see that everyone present was not enjoying” her jokes.
“This is, you know, the most nervous I’ve ever been,” he said.
‘SNL’ fires Shane Gillisfor racist comments, four days after hiring him
Gillis also seemed surprised he didn’t draw more laughs with a joke about his father, who was in the audience, being a “volunteer assistant high school basketball coach.”
“I thought it was funny,” Gillis said. “Okay. Don’t you think it’s funny bringing my dad here to make fun of him for being a high school basketball coach? It’s okay. I thought it was cool, nevermind. I thought it was going to be a big hit.” . here.”
Gillis was hired in 2019 at the same time as Bowen Yang. At the end of the episode, Gillis, who said “it means a lot to me to be here,” was seen hugging Yang on stage as the credits rolled.
‘SNL’ parodies Donald Trump’s gold sneakers
During the rest of the show, Gillis had the opportunity to show off his Donald Trump impression in a sketch mocking the former president’s Trump-branded gold sneakers, which were recently unveiled at a convention in Philadelphia.
In the sketch, a parody trailer for a “Like Mike”-like movie called “White Men Can Trump,” Gillis played a man who begins to look and act like Trump after wearing the sneakers.
But instead of making him good at basketball, Gillis’ character explains that the shoes “gave me the power to say I’m good at basketball, and then redouble my efforts until people actually start to believe it.”
