Shane Gillis, one of three newly announced SNL members, is under fire after an old video has resurfaced in which he says racial slurs. In the video, which was first reported by freelance editor Seth Simons, and which you can see below, Gillis uses racial slurs for Chinese people among other insults.
Simons, a writer and editor, first tweeted the video on September 12. He tweeted, “today SNL announced the hiring of its first cast member of East Asian descent, and also this guy.” You can see the video below.
SNL has not given a comment on tDuring the video, Gillis references his comments as “nice racism, good racism.” Here’s what you need to know:
1. WATCH: Gillis Uses Racial Slur for Chinese People
Per Variety, the video appears to be dated Sept. 26, 2018, and is from a podcast recording of his two-man show, titled “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast.” The podcast is still available online.
At one point, Gillis says of going to a Chinese restaurant, “The translation between you and the waiter is such a f*cking hassle, I’m pointing at it.”
At another point, “Chinatown’s f*cking nuts. Let the f*ckng [Chinese slur] live there.”
2. Gillis Is One of Three New Members on SNL: Gillis, Bowen Yang, & Chloe Fineman
Gillis is one of three new members to the infamous sketch show. The two other members are Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang. The press release for the new members by NBC reads,
Chloe Fineman was a New Face at the 2018 Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal and has been a regular performer at the Groundlings.
Shane Gillis was recently recognized as a New Face at the 2019 Just for Laughs Festival.
Bowen Yang joined “SNL” as a staff writer last season and is co-host of the “Las Culturistas” podcast.
“SNL” premieres Sept. 28 with host Woody Harrelson and musical guest Billie Eilish.
Wang, notably, is the first openly gay Asian man to act on the show.
3. Gillis Was Named Philly’s Funniest Comedian in 2016
Gillis is now based in New York. Per his site, he was named Philly’s Funniest Comedian at the Helium Comedy Club in the city. He was also named a “New Face” at Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival.
Gillis has over 12,000 followers on Instagram. He is continuing to run his podcast, Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast, which runs on a weekly schedule. One summary of a podcast reads, “Shane and O’Connies went to the Gettysburg battlefield to pay their respex to all those who gave their lives, not the guys who gave their lives to keep slavery going. That was a pretty gnarly miscalculation on their part. Sux for them. Then we interviewed Shane’s Dad, which was tight as H-E-DOuble-L.”
4. Many Are Calling for Gillis to Be Fired From SNL
I would say it’s amazing no one from SNL found this less-than-year-old-video before hiring him, but that would assume SNL cares about diversity or not hiring racists. Which, at this point, is unclear.
In the wake of the news about Gillis’ jokes involving racist slurs, many are demanding that Gillis be fired from SNL. Marina Fang, a reporter for Huffington Post, tweeted, “In the year of our lord 2019, SNL hired one of the few Asian cast members it has ever had…and this guy, who mocked Chinatown and called Chinese people “f*cking ch*nks.”
TV writer Benjamin Siemon tweeted, “Even if he stays on SNL, based on past seasons, there’s a 90% chance Shane Gillis plays a waiter and a museum guard with a few lines and then doesn’t come back.”
One person even predicted the resurfacing of the video before it happened, tweeting, “How long before Shane Gillis is outed for being problematic…you know they are digging around right now”
5. Gillis Has a Busy Tour Schedule for Fall 2019
According to his site, Gillis has a busy tour schedule for the fall in addition to his work acting on SNL.
Gillis will be performing on Sept. 20-21 at the Helium Comedy Club in Indianapolis; he will be performing at Acme Minneapolis from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2; he will be performing at Goodnights Raleigh on Nov. 22-23.
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