SNL drops Shane Gillis from cast over racist comments

The comedian Shane Gillis will not join the cast of Saturday Night Live, the show announced on Monday.

In response, Gillis said he was “a comedian … funny enough to get SNL. That can’t be taken away.”

The 31-year-old was named as one of three additions to the NBC marquee show last week, alongside Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman.

Soon after, podcast footage surfaced of him making racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments.

Gillis apologised, saying in a statement he was “a comedian who pushes boundaries” but who “sometimes missed”.

Democratic presidential contender Andrew Yang, who Gillis called a “Jew chink”, repeated over the weekend that he thought the comedian shout not be fired.

But in a statement on Monday, a spokesman for SNL producer Lorne Michaels said: “After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL.

“We want SNL to have a variety of voices and points of view within the show, and we hired Shane on the strength of his talent as a comedian and his impressive audition … We were not aware of his prior remarks.

“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 standard.”

Gillis tweeted a statement in response.

“It feels ridiculous for comedians to be making serious public statements but here we are,” he said. “I’m a comedian who was funny enough to get 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. I was always a Mad TV guy anyway.”