Yahoo News Saturday Night Live fires new cast member for racist Asian jokes
Saturday Night Live has fired the new cast member at the center of a race row.
A spokesperson for producer Lorne Michaels announced on Monday (September 16) that Gillis "will not be joining SNL" because of past jokes about Asians that Michaels deemed "offensive, hurtful and unacceptable".
"We are sorry that we didn't see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard," SNL's representative added.
Gillis came under fire last week for a series of racially-offensive remarks on the same day as both himself and the show's first-ever East Asian cast member, Bowen Yang, were officially unveiled by NBC.
Following his firing, Gillis tweeted: "I'm a comedian who was funny enough to get on SNL. That can't be taken away.
"Of course I wanted an opportunity to prove myself at SNL, but I understand it would be too much of a distraction. I respect the decision they made. I'm honestly grateful for the opportunity."
He ended with a joke referencing SNL's former US sketch comedy competitor, writing: "I was always a MadTV guy anyway".
— Shane Gillis (@Shanemgillis) September 16, 2019
Original: Saturday Night Live is set to kick off its 45th season later this month, but one of the hit comedy sketch show's new cast members has come under fire for making racist jokes.
Earlier this week, SNL confirmed that Chloe Fineman, Shane Gillis and Bowen Yang were all joining the cast, and while audiences praised the casting of Yang, who is the show's first East Asian cast member, viewers also quickly unearthed clips of Shane making racist, sexist and homophobic jokes on his podcast.
Footage shared on social media, taken from Gillis' podcast Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast, sees the comedian make a series of racist comments about the Asian community, as well as making derogatory remarks about women, Muslims and the LGBTQ+ community.
Shane has since issued a statement on the footage, saying his intention is "never to hurt anyone".
— Shane Gillis (@Shanemgillis) September 13, 2019
"I'm a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss," he wrote. "If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you're going to find a lot of bad misses.
"I'm happy to apologise to anyone who's actually offended by anything I've said. My intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks."
The podcast episodes were released in September 2018 and all episodes have now been taken down, however, the clips and Shane's reply caught the attention of many comedians and actors who were quick to condemn the explanation that he was taking "risks" in his comedy.
"It took 45 years for @SNL to get an East Asian cast member and in that same year, he'll be joined by someone who would have no problem calling him a 'f**kin' ch**k'," wrote Always Be My Maybe and Lost star Daniel Dae Kim. "Gotta be a joke in there somewhere.”
As a comedian I usually side with the comedians on sensitive subjects. But this is just plain racist. Its truly disgusting. Standing up against this is just as important as supporting our Asian brothers and sisters. This man has to go @nbcsnl https://t.co/oQS0BgqTbP
— Jimmy O. Yang (@FunnyAsianDude) September 13, 2019
Crazy Rich Asians actor Jimmy O Yang added: "As a comedian I usually side with the comedians on sensitive subjects. But this is just plain racist. Its truly disgusting.
"Standing up against this is just as important as supporting our Asian brothers and sisters. This man has to go @nbcsnl."
More people called out Shane's statement in replies to his initial tweet too, including Iron Fist and Deadpool 2 actor Lewis Tan, as well as journalist Roxane Gay and actor Simu Liu.
Don’t make yourself some sort of martyr of comedy dude. You don’t get to hide behind that. Own up, face the music and make a more genuine apology.
— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) September 14, 2019
It’s not risky to be racist. It’s boring. The material wasn’t even funny. Apologize for that.
— roxane gay (@rgay) September 13, 2019
"Calling people ch**ks and saying it's annoying when they try to learn English isn't a risk, its racist. My family damn near died to be here. You were racist. It's only a risk if you talk this way around me, then it is a risk as my intention will be different than yours," Lewis wrote.
"It's not risky to be racist. It's boring," Roxane Gay added, with Simu Liu saying: "Don't make yourself some sort of martyr of comedy dude. You don't get to hide behind that. Own up, face the music and make a more genuine apology."
NBC has yet to comment on the backlash.
Saturday Night Live will return for its 45th season on NBC on September 28, featuring host Woody Harrelson and music guest Billie Eilish.
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