What happened?

A new face to the late-night comedy show, “Saturday Night Live,” named Shane Gillis has been fired. Gillis was let go due to the use of racist language directed toward Asian people during podcasts made earlier this year. Gillis mimicked Chinese accents and used a racial slur when referring to 2019 presidential candidate, Andrew Yang. The video clips resurfaced shortly after he was announced to be part of SNL’s 45th season on Sept. 12 via a tweet from SNL’s account. 

“After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL,” an SNL spokesperson said. “The language he used is offensive, hurtful and unacceptable. We are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard.”

Who is Shane Gillis?

Shane Gillis is an American comedian. He co-hosts a podcast called, “Matt and Shane’s secret podcast.” Gillis also appears on the Comedy Central Radio show and other various podcasts. 

What was the outcome?

Shane Gillis took to Twitter for a public response to his firing. To be short, he apologized and said that he respects SNL’s decision. You can read the two tweets in their entirety on his profile here. In addition, the podcasts that led to his firing are still available online with a quick google search. He led a short career as an SNL comedian as he was fired before even making his debut.