After a weekend of questions about why Saturday Night Live is so bad at doing research on its new hires, the sketch comedy institution has decided to just go ahead and do the thing it should’ve done five days ago by cutting new cast member Shane Gillis. For those who somehow missed it, Gillis was one of three new additions to the cast who were announced on Thursday (along with Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang), and about five minutes later, the collective internet uncovered multiple examples of Gillis using racist and homophobic language on a podcast. SNL itself stayed silent, but then Gillis got out a shovel and started digging himself in deeper with a classic “I’m sorry if you were offended” non-apology that also implied that it was actually super cool and edgy to be racist.
Now, Gillis’ SNL career has already ended, with a spokesperson for the show saying in a statement to Variety that they had initially hired Gillis “on the strength of his talent as a comedian and his impressive audition,” but they “were not aware of his prior remarks that have resurfaced over the past few days.” The spokesperson also apologized for not seeing the clips beforehand, adding that they were “offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable” and that, “our vetting process was not up to our standard.”
Of course, the internet managed to find these clips with no trouble, and a story from Vulture noted that the comedy scene in Gillis’ hometown of Philadelphia was well-aware of his fondness for racist comments, so it’s a mystery what SNL’s “vetting process” even entails. Maybe Lorne Michaels just asked him if he had ever said anything racist or homophobic on a podcast? Or maybe he just trusted that all new hires will freely share that information on their own?
Anyway, congratulations to Shane Gillis on his eventual gig yelling about censorship on some MAGA asshole’s YouTube page.
401 Comments
wack
Good.
Aw. Too bad, so sad.
Off to the Gulag to be disappeared.
“Anyway, congratulations to Shane Gillis on his eventual gig yelling about censorship on some MAGA asshole’s YouTube page.”Yeah, that’s is the only issue I have with this whole thing; people are going to use it as another excuse to bitch about how “harmful” “Cancel Culture (TM)“ is when the reality of the situation is that based on the things that he was fired over, he’s also just not fit for a job that a million other more talented (and less lazy/racist) comedians would kill to have.
People keep saying this. Where is this happening?
I’m not sure it really is happening anywhere in particular, but I also think “cancel culture” is a nonsense term that describes something we’ve all been doing forever (firing/not hiring/disavowing idiots and racists).
Thoughts and prayers.
Looking forward to all the “free speech!” outcry, as if being a cast member on SNL is a constitutional right being unjustly ripped from this jamoke’s grasp.
and somehow, these people will never see the irony in how they accuse other people of thinking they’re “entitled” to things.
You’re right. People on both sides of that argument are scumbags. That includes you. Congratulation.
Excuse me, but in Philadelphia we preferred to be called “Jabronies.”
You keep using this word jabronis, and it’s awesome.
You mean the “free speech” brahs who called for the firing of the SNL writer who tweeted a dumb joke about Barron Trump?
If you believe that was wrong you are equally as wrong for stooping to that level. Fuck your moral high horse.
I’m sure Chappelle and Louis CK will have something to say. Apparently we don’t deserve them.
Apparently Bill Burr (who seems to get a lot of free passes that other comedians of his ilk do not) is upset and is blaming “millennials.” Big shock there.
*citation needed*Bill is funny and this fuckwad Gillis isn’t, wasn’t, and probably never will be. I’d be surprised if Bill actually gave a shit.
It just so happens that the vocal minority that are crying the most about this nonsense are millennials.
I thought the talking point was that it was college students who cried about these types of issues. Now it’s millennials as well, apparently. Since Burr is so concerned about Shane’s well-being, I guess that means he’s going to be taking him on tour with him, rather than just bloviating on a talk show to look edgy.
I doubt he, and most comedians who are currently laughing about this could care less about this guy, or that he was fired. I think most of them are just tired of the circus that this really is.
Let’s not forget that SNL has done far worse than anything this guy has said, or that they no doubt knew who he was before hiring him. The frustrating fact is that they gave in.
Again, no one gives a shit about Shane.
If people dislike cancel culture, then I share some agreement with them, but to me if comedians are asked about this guy, rather than a broad theme, they should talk about him, instead of giving talking points. Going on about digging into people’s past of 15 years ago and so forth makes no real sense with what happened here.
I guess. I mean, I honestly never even knew he was before this so I just assumed they didn’t either.
People like to pretend “cancel culture” is a new thing. It’s just opinions and people have always had opinions. Nothing truly changed and created “cancel culture” people just threw a label on it and can hate it easily. Also people like to pretend it equates to bullying for some reason when in reality a bunch of people just think someone rich and famous is shitty now. That’s not bullying and is not equal to bullying in anyway.
“I’m allowed to be racist because I married a black chick” Bill Burr
Well…. he’s not wrong
Bill Burr’s comedy seems to be aimed directly at angry dads who spend all their time in the garage drinking and working on the lawnmower because they hate their wife.
Any rational, fair person would be more inclined to support the right to tell a joke without their career being ruined rather than having the power to ruin a career over a joke. You’re not morally superior. You don’t have the high ground. You’re only damning your own soul. Enjoy the consequences.
Enrico Pallazzo saved the Queen, you monster. What’ve you done other than getting fired from SNL and making some really bad jokes (not necessarily in that order)?Also, welcome to the AVClub Shane/FRED! I hope you learn something.
Thomas Jefferson wanted everybody to have it.
Nah, I’m pro-1st amendment and hate the PC police, but SNL doesn’t owe him a job. It’s fine to joke about race but actions have consequences. And let’s face it, it’s about money: advertisers and audience, not propriety.
And, sadly, will likely have a stand-up special in 6 months with a name like “Triggered” or “Not a Safe Space” or something.
Thanks, Netflix!
I was about to say something like “Netflix would never…”, but then I remembered they still have Louis C.K. on there. So, yeah.
i hope he does.
Fucking walks up to the stage dressed as Rob Schneider off The Fucking Homosexual Firemen Thing. I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry yeah? The one where Kevin James and Adam Sandler pretends to be gay and shit. Anyways he just goes up to the stage and says “What’s the deal with Asians? They think they have a right? Well chingy chingy Ching Chong am I right?” And “Why do faggots even live for? Am I right?” And other racist stuff that he calls jokes? When in fact they are not.
We didn’t actually need this
To quote That One Unlikable Dick That Doesn’t Know That Their Personality Is The Reason Why Nobody Likes Them And Who Thinks They’re Insightful When They’re Really Really Hateable And Dumb Instead. “Hey I’m just saying it as it is.”But yeah no yea you’re right, but it’s like you people y’know? It’s what America likes.
Yeah you’re not helping
Only tangentially rated, but here’s something awful:
I don’t see what’s awful bad about it. It’s a funny observation.
He’ll be the new star of the “Intellectual Dark Web”.
Will he even bother doing comedy anymore after all the MAGA chuds Kickstart him $700,000 within the next week?
“Chuds”? Lol Chumpo Trap House, hhuh? Jesus, they’re as much of a cancer as the Proud Boys.
It’ll probably be something even dumber, like “Hashtag TriggeredToo”.
“Uncanceled?”
Your precognitive powers appear to be in working order: He’s already workshopping material for it.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/shane-gillis-returns-stage-snl-firing-145231073.html
Cue the free speech warriors defending Gillis’s right to have NBC provide him a public platform to be unfunny and racist in 3…2…
WHY DO YOU HATE THE FIRST AMENDMENT, PAUL? WHICH IS CLEARLY RELEVANT IN THIS SITUATION OF A PRIVATE CORPORATION NOT HIRING A LIABILITY?
Because I’m an intolerant libtard beta snowflake cuck. Obviously.
aight cool. same.
This, from the guy who wrote The Negron Complex.
Come now! You’re questioning Kinsey’s bonafides? Why, he went down south with the freedom riders (after he got pulled off the LA junket).Seriously though, the cut from him spouting pseudo-intellectual B.S. on the bus to Don lighting up a cigarette on the jet while “Telstar” plays is maybe my favorite in all of Mad Men.
haha yeah you are *clearly* the one who got snowflake triggered in this fictional scenario. Not the free speech warriors, oh no.
Then why am I curled up in the fetal position and weeping softly in the back of my Prius? Explain that, Endymion42! If that is your real name.
Endymion42 was my father’s name, please, call me Endy.
Where are they?
Mostly in the greys with you. Though some loser who clearly missed the point of X-Men made it out somehow.
I checked and only found 1.
They’ll just say “SNL just isn’t funny anymore. It was really good XX years ago”
You’re so brave. I bet you think you’re really “sticking it to Trump” with this. Again, soooo brave and moral.
You nailed it. With no thought of my own personal safety, I’m heroically fighting to take down Donald Trump by making fun of bad comedians and the regressive idiots who defend them on an anonymous internet forum. Is it working? Has he resigned yet? Have we achieved peace in our time?
> “our vetting process was not up to our standard.”To be fair they’re right. Their standard is currently at below mediocre.
I think it’s important to note these comments were fairly recent, too. This isn’t Kevin Hart making a joke that, at the time, wasn’t offensive to most people. (Still a shitty joke, but context matters in comedy.)Only worth mentioning to push back against inevitable, anti-“cancel culture” virtue signaling by right wing jerks.
I think comedy ages worse than just about every other genre of entertainment, and that’s something to keep in mind.But yeah, these are contemporary comments. And they didn’t even seem like they were trying to be jokes.
Lot of Chris Rock stuff doesn’t fly too well in the #metoo era. Shrugging off Clarence Thomas’ sexual harassment of Anita Hill as “just tryin’ to get laid!” for instance.
Or the bit about never hitting a woman, but sure as hell shaking the shit out of one? Yeah that nugget plays real well today.
It was literally CHINESE PEOPLE GO CHING CHONG BING BONG WHEN THEY SPEAK. I’m curious what SNL actually saw that they thought was funny enough to offer him a job, because that is some ludicrously lazy hackery.
To be fair, Rosie O’Donnell still has a career.
Since you’re determined to hate the man over one joke, chances are, you won’t find any of the others funny because you’re afraid you’ll b accused of supporting him.
I almost wonder if SNL purposely hired this guy to stir up ‘controversy’ and free publicity.
I’m honestly shocked he didn’t go to the “dogs and cats” well, because otherwise he managed to hit every single lazy comic trope about Chinese food that we’ve been hearing since the ‘70s. The only difference between what he said and what the average racist grandpa thinks about Chinese food is that he said it with a smirk.
*Edgy* comedy ages worse than anything. Because the whole point is to be right on the line, and that lines moves over time. So a decade later, your super edgy set is either an accepted mainstream view or wildly offensive and tasteless.
Depends on what the edge is. I remember a David Cross bit that was a long extended rant about how shitty George W. Bush was from like 15 years ago, and at the time I thought it was too angry at the time, and I just listened to it a few months ago and realized how right on he was. Like, if your idea of “edgy” is just casually tossing out racial slurs or whatever, yeah, that’s gonna age poorly. But if it’s really challenging current assumptions/norms, especially about giving deference to powerful people, then it probably will age fine!
That’s bullshit because people will take what was said then and judge it by today;s standards so they can have an excuse to ruin that person. It’s an exhilarating power trip.
Yeah it is like how Eddie Murphy went from wildly offensive homophobic stuff to some family friendly fare for a few decades and now gets to do adult humor again after “rehabilitating” his humor or whatever. It does seem like he had more of a Mea Culpa than Hart did about his jokes.
Except nothing in these excerpts were funny at all, unless you think somebody saying ‘f***ing ch*nks ‘ is somehow a punchline.
And yet I still laugh out loud whenever I watch ‘Burns & Allen’.
I think it’s ‘edgy’ humor that doesn’t age well, because the ‘edges’ move, and because most ‘edgy’ people are really just jerks.
ETA: Sorry, R3507mk2, I didn’t see your post before I posted mine. We’re def on the same page.
I think all comedy has a tendency to age really poorly, edgy or not, but there are exceptions, and our sense of humor is mostly formed by the time we’re adults, so it’s the next generations that’ll find our humor stale and awful.
Mitch Hedberg jokes will always be timeless
yesssss
Hedberg was great because his style of humour kept away from offensive “edginess”, but could still be really insightful on occasion too. His bit about alcoholism being a disease you can get yelled at for having is absolutely true. “Damnit, Otto, you have lupus!”
Yeah he was sharp, witty, and insightful like you mentioned, the world is a lesser place without him.
Humor is subjective. What you consider unfunny isn’t the gold standard of comedy.
I agree with SNL’s decision, especially if the comments are indeed recent and given his flippant attitude to the backlash.All he had to do was apologize and state he’d use his SNL opportunity to entertain and evolve. That can involve taking risks and “being edgy”, which doesn’t mean relying on lazy racist/sexist tropes.He probably did a great audition and provided good clips, but obviously, no one thought to dig deeper at SNL.
Fuck that. Too many people are too quick to apologize and grovel. “They were jokes, get the fuck over it” was all he had to say.
I’m sure that would have ended differently than his stock “I apologize if you were offended” approach.
he got fired anyway
Yeah, that’s what… is this thing on?
This is why Jean left you
You know, this guy isn’t a pedo. I think he could have gotten out of the situation with a simple “my bad, will do better”.
Nope. People don’t forgive anymore. They only want to punish because the power they have to do so is like a drug. Pushing more successful people down to feel better about oneself. Karma is a bitch though and it’s coming for all of you.
It’s not too late, you I mean, Shane, is famous now. Racist jokes can be forgiven with the right attitude, whereas physical/sexual abuse, not so much. Which isn’t the case here.Not sure if SNL can forgive the MadTV comment, though.
It worked for James Gunn, who this site just LOVES.
Yeah, that’s pretty much what he did say. Here we are.
But they weren’t jokes. They were just racist comments.
He probably did a great audition and provided good clips, but obviously, no one thought to dig deeper at SNL.Or they knew what he was about but thought they needed a “hey, I’m just a regular guy” type schlub to play to the flyover states.
I have a feeling the decision-makers are of Lorne’s generation, I doubt they saw further ahead. They probably thought no one would care, and yeah, I agree they were probably looking for “a type”.I’m still surprised no one thought to ask a subordinate to google him, seems irresponsible.
Nope. These are old school comedians who follow the truth, that anything can be funny and there are no boundaries. Their apology about vetting was because they didn’t anticipate people would be so butthurt about a few little jokes. He worked for SNL or they wouldn’t have hired him.
No matter how he apologized or what he did, it wouldn’t have been accepted. And you know that’s true.
Not sure that’s true, it’s not like he’s beaten up people or abused kids. He made racist jokes, like a lot of comedians. Apologies worked for James Gunn + now everybody knows Shane’s name.Pete Davidson f*up a lot, and he’s still around.
I agree with the decision, too. But I don’t think an apology would have made a difference. Nobody accepts apologies anymore, they just demand them.
Thanks, Mom. Jesus Christ, how big of a scold can you people be?
Go do your homework 🙂
The argument that people are just too oversensitive is especially stupid considering Daniel tosh has had a tv show for 11 years. If he can avoid making ching chong sounds, this clown has no excuse.
Also, like, what he said wasn’t really jokes? Like, the punchlines were literally “I think Asian accents are funny” and “Pagodas are ugly”.
“Observational Humor for Racists.”
Who the fuck thinks pagodas are ugly? Why does this make me angry as hell?
Don’t forget “the perfidious Chinese are deceiving us into eating garbage with their oriental potion MSG”!
I think the most important thing to note is that these were COMMENTS and not JOKES. He didn’t say c***** in service of some comedy bit. He was just throwing it around casually. I’m all for comedians testing boundaries and occasionally crossing the line just to see where it is, but this wasn’t even comedy. It was just racist.
Yeah, beating your kids for being gay was still pretty in vogue back in 2011. And at least he issued a prompt non-apology, which is why he can now star in Jumanji 2.
Yes, because only right wing jerks care about the prevalence of cancel culture.
I’m pretty sure Kevin Hart’s jokes about being violent towards his son if he was gay were still offensive to many people circa 2010 or whatever. The fact that homosexuality is still often mocked or looked upon with suspicion in the black community enough for it to get a laugh then doesn’t make it better, in fact a lot of those same audience members would probably still laugh about it now. I could maybe understand that argument about some of Chapelle’s violently homophobic material in the early 90s, because back then it really did seem like open season on gay jokes and stereotypes, but Kevin Hart was making these jokes when the majority of people in this country had accepted homosexuality enough to be in favor of gay marriage.Plus, Hart could have easily apologized and moved on, but instead he just talked broadly about how Kevin Hart is always trying to improve himself, and then his recent “conversation” with Lil Nas X on that HBO barbershop show proved that he is still not interested in listening to anything about the subject but the sound of his own voice.
I always thought Maynard G. Krebs was the funny one anyway….
WORK
May we never speak of this again.
And he’s still being a dick: I guess he missed the seasons where Bobby Lee was a regular.
The irony is that if this loser had never been cast on SNL, most people wouldn’t have known he’s a bigoted idiot. So now he’s probably going to lose a lot of work because his bad reputation is nationwide.
Yup. Thanks Lorne, Che, and Jost!
And probably gain a lot of other work, because our planet is full of assholes.
Odds are better that he’ll gain a lot more work from this as certain people rush to defend him.
This is America! He’s already booked on The Martyrs of Comedy Tour.
And even then, that tour’s real draw is the grand guignol historical reeanactments at the end of each set, rather than the actual standup performances.
This also means that ultimately all performers technically qualify as prop comics.
Count me as among the number. I had never heard of the guy before, but now know whose shows I’m not going to go to.
I wasn’t going before, but I’m definitely not going now!
This is a bloody shame . In this day and age of camera phones and social media I honestly believe everybody has said stuff that would get them fired from their respective jobs , if it were posted online like w this lad . And wtf was so bad about what he said anyway? I kept thinking I wasn’t clicking the wrong link since the ones I saw were almost comically innocuous . Guess this means that hack of all hacks Margaret cho will surely be canceled too as her whole bloody shtick is making fun of her mothers Asian accent and the way she talks. Spare me the shite about how she “ gets to say that” because she’s Asian. Sod off
I wonder what his masturbation habits are.
Nah Fox News will hook him up. Failed comedians and successful racists will always land on their feet over there.
But he has an exciting career as a youtube dirtbag ahead of him.
I bet he can get some sweet, sweet gigs in MAGA country though. He’ll be juuuuust fine. The “I’m not a racist but…” crowd just eats up SNL’s thrown-away scraps (cough cough Victoria Jackson cough) eagerly, and now Donnie can pretend he’s got celebrity friends (to hang out w/ Nugent and Stacey Dash on A-List Weekends)!!!
He will make it up by being the opening act at Trump rallies
“I was a comedian who was funny enough to get SNL. That can’t be taken away.” Except it just was? Jeez what a jerkass
Someone can’t take away the fact that he was funny enough to get a job on SNL. He’s not talking about the actual job.
I like how he starts off by talking about the honor of getting hired by SNL, and then immediately undercuts it by saying he preferred MadTV.
My guess would be that was a shot at whomever started spreading those clips of him being racist. I think that dude is a comedian.
“I like how he starts off by talking about the honor of getting hired by SNL, and then immediately undercuts it by saying he preferred MadTV.”
It’s almost like he’s, I don’t know, a comedian making a joke?
“Except it just was?”
Except the fact that he was hired can’t be taken away.
Do you understand ANYTHING?
Best case scenario SNL would’ve done their due diligence and never hired him and you’d never have a case to see this comment.
Omg, someone give this guy a clue.
“I’m a comedian who was funny enough to get SNL”You, Colin Quinn, Charles Rocket, Victoria Jackson…
Whoa whoa whoa now. Colin Quinn doesn’t deserve to be in this group
I tried to read that in Colin Quinn’s voice, but you didn’t blow your lines.
That guy who worked with Kari Wuhrer on forgotten MTV game show Remote Control?
Wait, I guess Adam Sandler was on that a few times, so it’s arguable whether Colin Quinn was even the funniest one on that.
He was on a podcast once with a girl I used to know a little, and so as far as I am concerned he peaked with that.
Then you know precisely dick.
no, no no. His stand-up specials in the past few years have been REALLY good, especially if you like to learn a little bit along the way. I was NEVER a Colin Quinn fan- now I’m fully with him. Do it and try it- there’s one or two on Netflix- and I honestly think you’ll be surprised how much better he is than you recall. Or not, and F ajvia.
Colin Quinn’s career would be remembered fondly if he’d retired after Remote Control.
I feel like he did something funny on SNL. . . but now of course I can’t remember what.
He was pretty good as Artie’s son on The Larry Sanders Show, but that’s about it…
Remember his rap video?
Going Back to Brooklyn? From his MTV special: Going Back to Brooklyn?
I genuinely don’t think I could handle the secondhand embarrassment that would result from watching that thing
Honestly, that part of the special is a pretty good parody of LL Cool J’s Going Back to Cali. And it’s less cringey than LL’s I’m That Type of Guy.
Low bar
Still that song and video (LL’s) has a certain must-watch terribleness to it.
Oh Christ, now I do.
Then you know precisely dick about Colin Quinn. Sorry that he’s not enough of a brand name for your populist sensibility.
While Charles Rocket was legendarily unfunny, it’s the one n-word moment that (justifiably) pretty much killed his career. Turns out that he was a more natural fit as a Chevy Chase successor than was thought at the time.
He’s extremely unlikable in anything else he ever appeared in (as Bruce Willis’s character’s brother on a couple of Moonlighting episodes, for example), too.
But I’ve come to feel a little pity for him due to both the fact that he committed suicide and the extreme self hate the method he chose seems to indicate.
It wasn’t the n-word; it was the f-word.
Yes, this. And more “F-bomb” considering how it cratered his career.
It’s kind of weird in retrospect – saying the n-word on TV in the early 80s was rude, but it wasn’t a career-ending gaffe on the level of saying “fuck.”
There is actually a sketch in that same season – it’s even on NBC’s SNL videos – called Commie Hunting Season. It’s meant to be a parody of rednecks, I guess. The n-word is actually said. The audience goes deadly silent, and the actors seem to be thrown. It’s generally considered one of the worst sketches the show has ever done. But, as you said, there was no backlash.
So your limit is ruining a man’s career over a word, not them dying. Maybe there’s hope for you.
Wasn’t an “n-word” that got him canned from SNL. He said “fuck” on air. That was it.
It wasn’t the n-word. It was the f-word. He said, as part of a sketch that parodied ‘Who Shot JR?’, “It hurts a lot. I’d like to find the guy that fucking did it.” Since it went out over live television, the FCC wound up fining them, and it was the excuse the network needed to get rid of Jean Doumanian (whose tenure on the show wasn’t well liked in any event) and fire the cast members who weren’t working out.
Will Sasso would NEVER
Neither would Key & Peele.
One of the very, very endearing things about my wife when we first met was that she didn’t care for SNL, but she loved Mad TV (and Will Sasso in particular). That’s never been a popular sentiment.
Is “I was always a mad tv guy” supposed to be a Ms Swan reference?
“Also, word on the street is those fucking grapes are sour anyway.”
The phrase “this deserves more stars” gets thrown around far too often these days, and yet…
mad tv already has a will sasso face.
Ooooh, someone is bitter.
and a white male.
Reading the comments here, it would seem that irony isn’t fashionable with the righteous these days. You see, by saying “I was always a Mad TV guy anyway,” he was making the joke that he has sour grapes and shitty taste. It was self-deprecating humor.Mind you, I’m not defending the statements that got him kicked off the show. I’m just defending him from obtuse, self-righteous assholes too busy celebrating a perceived victory to be capable of comprehending a simple, casual ironic joke. It would be funny if it weren’t depressing.
“I’m a comedian who was funny enough to get SNL.”That doesn’t exactly say much.
Don’t forget Rob Schneider was on SNL. Rob Schneider!
If he could have resisted that last sentence, that statement might have worked.
Nothing would have worked. No matter what he said, it wouldn’t be accepted. When you are determined to hate someone, nothing they do will ever be right.
(sighs) Sad part is this response would’ve been gracious if not for the first and last sentence but Nooooo…
It’s not sad because most people, probably you included, would not accept any form of apology because you are determined to dislike this man and wish him ill over a joke. THAT’s what’s the sad part.
Hey Shane.
It’s funny because Mad TV was cancelled.
Yeah, he still doesn’t get it. He probably never will.
It makes me a bit sad that Mad TV is now only remembered by people who want to laugh at racist or homophobic and transphobic jokes. The show was crass and ugly as hell, sure, but it was also incredibly diverse and made no apologies to ANYONE. It was not the white power hour people now refashion it to be.
I only watched it occasionally, but in the early 2000s they had a sketch about a “50s diner” with segregated seating – it was funnier and more pointed than anything SNL was doing at the time, and it also had a clear beginning, middle, and end. Pretty sure they also had the fake Olive Garden commercial where the stereotypical Italian family keeps making passive-aggressive comments about “Jimmy’s black girlfriend.”
Sounds like SNL is some sort of unfunny venereal disease.
I love how out of all the innovative, hilarious, and subversive sketch comedy shows of the past few decades, he picked MadTV. Really tells you a lot huh?
So wtf are you expecting the guy to do exactly? I could care less about him, especially with his internet-noted past, but even if he joined a convent, swearing off all good things in life, the internet would still make it their life’s work to keep what happened previously, the only thing anyone sees about them moving forward. If he made a sincere apology here (if one exists), it’d still get hated on.I really can’t say that’s a good thing. It only makes the world a shittier place in one respect, by keeping hate-spewed thoughts alive online. But keeps it clean in another respect (one dirtbag thinking twice about their actions moving forward). I’m torn between which is the greater good. My thoughts here go beyond this particular issue is where I’m going with this.
Funny enough to be on SNL isn’t really a very high bar
God this dude sounds just like my roommate from Philly. Not knocking all people from Philadelphia, just these 2 dudes who seem to “apologize” in the same way. Flush the toilet Chris! Stop turning off the air conditioning, and take out the fucking trash!
He’s now going to make far more than he ever would on SNL by casting himself as a “victim” of a cancel culture that doesn’t actually exist.
I’ve never heard of him and haven’t watch SNL in over 20 years and I approve of this.
I’m not sure how a comedian who thinks making fun of Chinese accents is soooo edgy and hilarious had such an impressive audition, but ok, SNL. Lorne needs to retire already.
Can’t tell what point you’re trying to make with this clip but this isn’t even good comedy. Setting aside the deep seeded racism and homophobia, it’s just an out of touch dude making jokes that were ‘edgy’ in the 90’s and provide 0 insight or surprise today. His whole special is a problematic bore.
That he is hardly alone as “a comedian who thinks making fun of Chinese accents is soooo edgy and hilarious.” Beyond that, I’m willing to grant comedians the right to offend audiences as necessary but some (e.g. Chappelle) don’t seem to grant audiences the right to be offended in response. His recent comedy isn’t edgy, it’s lazy. Pointing it out doesn’t mean one doesn’t get it or make them the PC thought police.
His audience isn’t offended because they see no reason to be. Only the critics and the media are, and if you think they’re the important examples to follow, you’re in sorry shape.
That’s why I put edgy in quotes. Comedy doesn’t have to be safe but it’s not risk without failure. Using subjects that are offensive to take a risk means you’re opening yourself up to people being offended. Both Gillis’ and Chappelle’s recent work is offensive, in part, because it’s also not good comedy in that it doesn’t subvert any expectations.
That’s your opinion. 99% of the audience disagrees with it.
That’s amazing. Netflix is known for keeping their numbers tight to the vest. What a lucky dude you must be, Fred, to have access to their stats like that. 99%? That’s almost 100!
Clutch your pearls a little bit tighter.
Clutch your pearls a little bit tighter.
And nobody’s gonna do shit about it because he won’t grovel and he won’t apologize. So you judges lose that round. Sorry about your luck.
He wasn’t even making a joke! He was just saying racist shit. There was no real joke in there. He was just talking.
Well, it’s happened before…https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/ching-chang-in-love/n9552
Let’s cancel Dana Carvey now too. The nerve of him being caught on video doing something that was funny back in the 90’s. P.S. It’s still funny now no matter how outraged you are about it.
Lorne is truly the Vince McMahon of sketch comedy.
I particularly like the one where he storms in all mad and promptly tears both quads.
The (married-in) apple doesn’t fall far from the tree:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/50w3qo/that_time_when_triple_h_tore_his_quad_and_still/
That’s a really good analogy, although I have to imagine Lorne is responsible for a lot less CTE from unprotected chair shots.
Not “no” CTE from unprotected chair shots, just less.
“He has a FAMILY, dammit!”
Shane must have had some government grade morphine for Lorne at the audition, but then couldn’t get any more after casting.
The way that Lorne Michaels runs SNL as his own fiefdom is undoubtedly part of the problem. He was obstinate when called out over a lack of diversity in the cast in the years before they hired Sasheer Zamata and Leslie Jones. He would not look beyond his narrow idea of what a cast member should be or where they should come from. The result was a very bland, homogeneous cast. When you’ve got one guy basically calling all the shots, and from everything I’ve heard about the casting process at SNL that’s how it is, you’re going to risk limiting yourself. I think Lorne has shown how narrow his view of comedy is. It’s been evident for a long time. He’s either got to allow for a broader spectrum of input in the hiring process, and give those voices equal weight, or he’s got to go.
So now we’re going after Lorne? Good luck with that one, Mr. Judgy Judgerson.
I’m flying to South Park on City Airlines to eat at City Wok.
I hope they have enough time to find another patently unfunny white dude.
hope they give me a call!
I’m right here.
You already had your shot, Toonces.
He was never the same after he drove off that 3rd cliff
He was just trying to do us a favor and rid the world of Victoria Jackson.
“He gave a really impressive fart at the audition.”
SOMEBODY needs to fill the Luke Null role
I was born to be the next Luke Null, despite being much older than him.
You’re Luke Null’s Dad? Wow!
But they’re such a limited resource! And most of them have already been hoovered up by the world of podcasts.
His tenure on the show was basically this video
He’s the Anthony Scaramucci of SNL.
FANTASTIC PRAXISBut also, how the fuck did they not see this stuff in the first place? Hiring practice should absolutely be under review.
Yes. It was so recent and easily discovered, too. It’s almost as if they knew about it and hired him anyway.
“SNL would like to announce that we’ve just discovered that one of our new hires was intentionally offensive in a deeply not-funny fashion. We are rescinding our offer of employment. We have a great new replacement for him, though! Welcome our newest Not-Ready-For-Vetting-Player, Milo Yiannapoulos!”
THEY DID IT AGAIN! Will they ever learn?!
“There’s no way he can be problematic, he’s a gay!”
No no no. SNL is too small of a scope. Instead, NBC is going to reboot the Odd Couple (AGAIN) with Milo Yiannapoulos and Zoe Quinn. I mean, the jokes just write themself with such a dynamic duo.
Cool. Hope I never have to think about this dumbass again.
Not sure how SNL missed this one… I mean… if you showed me the header picture and asked me, “What do you think…” I would say, “Racist and homophobic comments” before you even finished the question.
Especially knowing he’s from Philly. “Lorne, a thumb-head from Philly? Really?”
After a weekend of questions about why Saturday Night Live is so bad
Stopped reading there because I’ve been asking this question for years.
Hey Shane. I know you created a burner account to comment on that other A.V. Club story on you. I want you to know that I’m Chinese, and I think the things you said about my people and my culture are really, really shitty.I also want you to know that, honestly, you’ll be fine. You had a career making shitty racist comedy in Philly before, and you’ll continue to have it. Heck, you can still keep doing that podcast with that buddy of yours with whom you traded insults about me. See, shock comics like you are a dime a dozen; the comedy world’s broad enough that racist pieces of shit like you can still make a living. But you don’t get to make it to the big leagues, buddy. Oh no. You keep doing your little clubs, and your podcast, and don’t expect a major network will ever put your face onto millions of TV screens nationwide. Only the really good comics get that.You? You’re good right where you are. That’s all you’ll ever deserve.
Damn bro, you just nuked the site from orbit. Well done.
Just when I thought his kill streak was over, he got the 25 to end the match.
It was the only way to be sure.
Now I want to play Find The Burner.
He’ll probably be on Fox News’ “comedy” show Brown RedEye.
What account? I am desperately interested in reading those comments.
https://kinja.com/dmil20878/discussionsAlthough there’s also this guy whose entire very recent comment history is also suspiciously Gillis-specific. He only left AVC to rant about Constance Wu on Jezebel:https://kinja.com/fnoridloc/discussions
You’re a saint.
The second post from the top on the second one you listed – “Unless you’re Brie Larson, in which you can be openly and brazenly sexist and racist, and not only are you not held responsible for it, but you can turn it around on others and claim that they’re jealous because they’re white men, which doubles down on the racism and sexism.”The fuck is the matter with these people.
Oh God, that “he’s one of the funniest comedians working today!” comment was so hilarious with it’s naked obviousness. Yes, suspiciously new commenter, this unknown comedian I’ve only ever heard of because he got fired from SNL for racism before ever actually appearing on SNL is clearly one of the giants of modern comedy.
Lighten the fuck up bro
It must be exhilarating to think you have that much power over another human being to sit in judgement and punish him the way you think you can.
apparently him and andrew yang are going to have a sit down…that should go well
Only a Goddamn fool is offended by jokes. Congratulations.
Can I just add that I am offended that he was the word “Nooders”. I mean they are called Noodles you fucking idiot. Anyways guy above has way better point
Don’t have a dog, man!
This is the lamest comment I’ve ever fucking seen.
Is that him pictured on his shirt?
Wait until you guys hear about this Belushi guy
Fuck that. they shouldve had some balls and kept him on.
Yeah it takes real balls to give racists a platform.
Nah
I see all those X-Men comics you read about tolerance and understanding really made an impression on you.
I love that there are more people complaining about the people who cry free speech, etc than anyone actually doing that. The vast majority of people don’t care about this either way. He can fade back into obscurity now.
On the plus side, Christopher Plummer’s going to kill it on this season of SNL.
Well played.
+100
If this is anyone but the first person to make a Christopher Plummer joke, you’re stealing my bit!
The video is truly stomach turning. It’s shocking SNL ever considered a guy like that.
Gotta admit, I was kind hoping that SNL would start the new season with a cold open in which Shane was introduced to the rest of the cast.
That would’ve happened if SNL or America had a sense of humor.
It would have happened if the guy had just said “I’m aware I fucked up for easy laughs and I’m going to do my best to entertain on SNL. I might offend some, at times, but I’m careful about racism/sexism from now on.”.I think there’s time to turn it around. Reference: Pete Davidson (completely different issues, of course).
Is Elliot Gould available?
Nursing home says no.
Introduced by Michael Richards.
Was this the dude mentioned in the latest A Dose Of Buckley episode? The dude that went off on Asians and went super American on them? Like so Anti-Asian to prove that he was American through and through? Because yeah he deserves to get shit canned but if you’re gonna shitcan everyone who was homophobic and who hates Asians then pal you’re kinda gonna shit can yourselves because buddy America kinda detests Asia. (See the rightful bombing of Imperial Japan and the unrightful destruction of Vietnam and Iraq.)Like you’ve also gotta get rid of Kevin Hart as well considering his views on homosexuals an’ all. Then you’ve gotta get rid of Mark Wahlberg considering how he once nearly murdered a homeless guy cause the guy was Vietnamese. Then so on and so forth.So going back to my original question is this the dude that was super racist against Asians or am I thinking of some other no namer?
Comparing the Vietnam and Korean wars to a racist comedian is a take I wasn’t expecting.
Uh, pal I never compared him to the Korean Wars did I? I compared him to The Atomic Bomb and like 9/11.
Also, yes to getting rid of Kevin Hart and Mark Whalberg!
You’re saying it like it’s an impossibility, but I’m actually pretty happy to shit can all comedians who are homophobic and hate Asians. We will hardly miss Kevin and Marky Mark.
I’m very much reminded of that politician who tried to talk about how all assault rifles would have to be banned if reasonable gun control passes, only to get huge cheers for the idea from the crowd.
Now is as good a time as any to mention that I’ve never had any use whatsoever for guys named “Shane”.
As an Australian who must share his country with many, many guys named Shane, I would like to co-sign this.
Why are comments similar to those kids used to make when I was 12 considered boundary pushing? To me it’s more lazy than anything.On a side note, I have a huge amount of faith in up and coming generations. A lot of my in laws are teachers, and they routinely say how much nicer kids have become. Using gay as a pejorative isn’t a thing any more, for one example.
Or “retarded”. I heard both of those a lot growing up.
Or “retarded”. I heard both of those a lot growing up.Did you grow up around Boston? Lotta Massholes seem to be hanging on to that one still.
No, but close; Chicago suburbs.
Hell, I had an adult throw that one my way in front of his kids just last year. All I did was wear a costume just outside the boundaries of a Con I was attending.
I’m also a teacher, I don’t think they’re nicer, they just talk less with cellphones. Don’t worry, social media is the new lunchroom bullshit clique, they’ve got it covered (judging by the awful garbage I’ve heard about)
I have faith too, although something I have seen amongst teenagers in London is that the whole “you can’t be racist to white people” thing did not take, at all. They see racism as equal opportunity, which may well change once they leave the bubble of home. We’ll see.
Take that with a grain of salt. Kids are much nicer in person nowadays, but one check of their texts/DMs/chats will show a lot of them are just as fucked up, if not worse.
True, and other people who are nice to your face will think nothing of ruining your life on social media over a tweet. Neither is complementary to the advancement of the human race or anything to be proud of.
Last year I was an 8th grade teacher. Please trust me that calling people gay, fag and yes, the N-word, is extremely common amongst our young people.
No. they are saving their ignorant bullshit for social media and texting. I am also a teacher and I hear very little in person. and the little I do is usually from things that started online. Kids are actually worse, all things considered.
Because bad comedians can’t tell the difference between breaking social norms that need to be challenged versus breaking social norms against being an asshole.
Maybe he can open for Louis CK.
Reached for comment, Louis CK has rejected the idea that he would allow Gillis to open for him: “I’ve jerked off in front of many Chinese women, and as such I find Gillis’ comments highly offensive.”
Gilles is from Mechanicsburg, PA, not Philadelphia. Mechanicsburg is not not even a suburb of Philadelphia being over 2 hours outside the city in Cumberland Country. We may have our problems but we don’t claim this dipshit.
I mean, he went to Temple and works out of Philly. Just because he was born in the ‘tucky part of Pennsyltucky (and clearly you can take the hick out of Pennsyltucky, but…) doesn’t mean the place that is giving him the platform isn’t partially at-fault.
Having grown up nearby, I can attest that this guy’s “humor” is pretty much standard practice in/around Mechanicsburg, where people are afraid to cross the river into Harrisburg for fear of encountering someone non-white.
I told you. Fired before his career even started.
Young fool…only now at the end…do you truly understand.
One less way racism gets normalized. Bad things happening to bad people.Not bad for a Monday.
The Lorne giveth, and the Lorne taketh away
I’m just flummoxed by the number of people that think SNL “missed this”. They didn’t miss shit. Why would they miss what took Twitter zero point zero seconds to discover? Do people think Gillis sent in the SFW (lol no racism) audition tape and Lorne was just all Hire Him? Do they genuinely believe they didn’t Google this guy? How do they think they found him in the first place? Church?
Okay, but what is the endgame of “they did this 100% on purpose with the plan to fire him at the end”? Just for news stories about how they’re stupid? To seem like the good guys for firing him? They don’t because they hired him to begin with.
Marketing. If they thought they could have just announced the new season, they’d have done that. But SNL has struggled for relevancy for the last 20 years. They are riding a high now because President Easy Target makes parody practically automatic, but by and large, SNL is not funny and they rely on stunts and controversy to stay in the news.Or not. Who knows? Only thing I know for sure is that SNL didn’t accidentally hire a racist. It was entirely on purpose.
I think they most likely knew but thought it would blow over; this isn’t the first time something like this happened — but then it turned into a huge story that could hurt their bottom line with advertisers so they fired him.
They have auditions. I don’t think it’s impossible that they didn’t bother checking out his podcast.
Nothing is impossible, I suppose. Lots of things are incredibly unlikely, and one of those things is a long-running television institution hiring comedians off the street with nothing but an audition and faith.
At this point I am very surprised any corporation like Universal/NBC doesn’t have these types of public figures screened at least a little bit.
I have seen a number of reports of sort of ‘civilian’ jobs only being offered after social media and online searches of candidates.
Someone who is going to be in such a public spotlight should definitely have screened by now. This isn’t even new after Gunn and any other celebrities being called out for it.
There was a whole 30 Rock episode about this. They wanted a redneck-whisperer and it backfired.
You don’t usually send in a tape for SNL. Recruiters come to your live show. Source: I did a showcase in 2005 where I failed to land an SNL audition, but we were told they had a recruiter in the house scoping for comics to invite to audition.
I had the same view a few days ago, but as time passed and more and more vile stuff was found I started to think they just didn’t bother to properly vet. A writer at Vulture says the show is known for not vetting.
But podcast talkshows that aren’t about true crime exist so that comedians have a safe space to vent about how hard it is to be even the slightest bit aware of what the standards for human decency are!Seriously, there’s a lot of Joe Rogan and Louis CK complaining about the good old days audio out there.
Wonder if they’re going to cancel Eddie Murphy’s hosting gig too.
I wonder how much his initial hiring decision had to do with SNL’s ongoing focus on what it perceives as the middle ground, trying to primarily appeal as broadly as possible, then secondarily maybe do something actually funny. Meaning when hiring three new people, with one being a woman and the other of a race they hadn’t hired anyone in their 44-year history, they worried about people (idiots) thinking this was somehow too diverse, so to swing the pendulum back they couldn’t just hire another white guy, it had to be a white guy that would appeal to the anti-diversity crowd. You know, to “balance” things out, like when McDonald’s “balances” a salad by putting in more calories than a Big Mac, and defeats the purpose of eating a salad entirely.And to further the metaphor, SNL is trying to be the McDonald’s of comedy. People need to stop expecting the equivalent of a steak – actually good comedy. Even if they manage to get a good actor or writer, the SNL process is going to turn them into nothing memorable.
HAHA! Have fun fighting other CHUD comedians for Jeff Dunham’s scraps!
Watching this guy talk (with that other idiot) via that 2 minute video clip that has been making the rounds was stomach-turning. He’s the kinda’ guy you meet every once in a while at some friend-of-a-friend’s party. He’s hanging out downstairs by himself playing pool. And the moment you’re in range he starts talking trash about other people, then throwing out racist shtick like an asshole 8th grader… You get the hell away from him as soon as possible. But, yet, somehow I can still believe he made it onto an NBC show without issue.
I’ve decided I’m pretty happy to believe all the multiple sources saying his podcast is racist and thus not listen to it myself. My life has only so many hours left in it and I don’t want any of them wasted on garbage like that.
It seemed to me like the coked-out guy at a party that’s a bit aggro and who is just loudly and repeatedly telling you about all the brilliant ideas he just figured out, punctuated by “IUNNO MAN” and “RIGHT??” “Chinese food is just BAD MEAT and a CHEMICAL! RIGHT???”
Just wanted to say, super glad this dude is gone, but: “Of course, the internet managed to find these clips with no trouble” seems to imply that SNL’s vetting process can somehow match the absurdly powerful, crowd-sourced life-ruining that Twitter is capable of. It is the ultimate tackboard of whispers, screenshots and smoking guns. No one could ever dream of comparing to it.That said, they still should have done their goddamn job
This guy got hired by way of Michael Che, who hangs out a lot in the Legion of Skanks podcast, along with Shane. And this podcast prides itself much worse racists jokes. So in this case, no research is needed.
I think they should have quietly kept him on as a featured player for two years, but never give him any lines and just stick him in the background of scenes. That way, we wouldn’t have to hear about how he was “censored” in the right wing media. Then everyone would’ve just forgotten about him like countless others who never made an impact at SNL.
This is so sad. Alexa, play Despacito.
You’re out of your mind if you think Lorne gave a microscopic shit about any of this dude’s past ‘humor.’
A spokesperson for the show saying in a statement to that they had initially hired Gillis “on the strength of his talent as a comediana spokesperson for the show saying in a statement to that they had initially hired Gillis “on the strength of his talent as a comedianI’ve seen Gillis do standup. What talent?
And in an instant, Dave Chappelle was proven right.
MJ didn’t take those kids to bed?
Bye, Gillisia.
What’s interesting is that in today’s culture, John Belushi would NEVER have been hired at SNL.
Is it though?
Given how he treated the female staff at SNL/NBC, it is.
I’m not sure if you’re saying he deserved to be hired or not. Regardless, I have to say I’m skeptical of your initial premise.
NEITHER OF THEM deserved to be hired for SNL.Belushi LOATHED Lorraine Newman and Jane Curtain and Gilda Radner and did everything he could to sabotage them on SNL. He was adamant that women were not and could not be funny. If he was forced to do a sketch with them he ALWAYS tried to upstage them. Belushi was a GLOREEEEE BOY who wanted the ENTIRE spotlight for himself and FUCK everyone else.Good fucking riddance.And I’m not even getting into how he is DIRECTLY to blame for Chris Farley’s death.
No one cares what you think.
That’s post-hire analysis. Belushi today wouldn’t have been hired because of his comic style for the exact same reason this entire drama is unfolding. Hell his name might never have come up. It’s a totally different era today.
Interesting? No.“An entertainer from 44 years ago might not be popular today” is maybe the world’s most perfect “no shit” statement.
Well yeah, he’s been dead for years, of course they wouldn’t hire him.
What have you got against hiring the dead?
Fucking necrophobes.
I love to do that! I’m a necrophobephile.
Look, I have no problem with the dead, but the truth is they’re terrible to work with. It’s all, “I can’t be in contact with natural light” and “Please don’t bring garlic into the office, I’m allergic” and running to HR complaining if you say things like “I’m dead tired today”. It just never ends.
That kind of cogent analysis is why I come to the comments section.
“Man, that Belushi is really stinking up the place.”“You mean with all the dropped lines?”
“No, I mean with the actual smell of rotting flesh. Though, yeah, the dropped lines are annoying too.”
Samurai GHOST WARRIOR!
That was back in ‘75, we’re nearing 2020. If John Belushi had been born in ‘87, maybe he wouldn’t have been hired today, who knows.
And where would we be without Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger?
Pretty much exactly where we are right now.Oh, and that particular sketch would NEVER even make it past the table read in today’s culture, let alone actually airing. It is the very definition of racist bigoted stereotypes.And you were tryin’ to be all ironic and cutesy with your little comment and no ZERO clue what kind of weight was gonna drop on it and obliterate it, did ya?
Maybe next time break the Prozacs in half.
This is why you aren’t supposed to crush Ritalin.
Have you EVER had a SINGLE original thought in your ENTIRE pathetic FAIL of a life or has it just been one long, endless SAD trail of lame and cliche and uncool and passe and unfunny and annoying as fuck all memes and lines stolen without attribution for Monty Python and Seinfeld?
Simmer down bub
Or what? I’ll be arrested and put in airport jail?!?Just get your ticket and move on, get your GODDAMNED TICKET AND MOVE ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the kind of comedy we need on SNL. Classic.
You must be new here.
You must be new here.
Without John Belushi we wouldn’t have “Cheeseborger” (which means we wouldn’t have Adam Sandler’s “you like-a da juice” 20 years later). We wouldn’t have all those sketches where he’s a samurai who works in a restaurant. We might not have Bee Hospital. We wouldn’t have that poster of him chugging bourbon in a sweatshirt. We wouldn’t have Jim Belushi. These are the cornerstones of our culture, and they might have been lost, if today’s social mores were in place 44 years ago. Whose alcoholism will future generations idealize? Whose picture will they hang on their dorm-room walls as a warning to any girls passing by? Who will entertain them with his brilliant impression of a zit? Won’t somebody think of the children?
He was overrated AF anyway. If he had survived, I’m sure everyone would think of him as another douchebag blowhard like Chevy Chase. Also, he’s the reason why Jim Belushi is famous, so yeeeahhhh
He thinks being racist is funny. Just like every other dimwitted bigot. How edgy!
Comedian I never heard of bounced from a show that hasn’t been relevant since Sandler? Next.
Sandler’s main time period was probably one of the moments it came closest to being canceled.
I think it’s seasons 19-20 (‘93 – ‘95), at the tail-end of Sandler’s tenure, when it was most in the dumps culturally and ratings-wise.
“I don’t like X” is not the same as “X is not relevant”
It is when you consider yourself the center of the universe, as I do
Hell yeah, I love good news.
I look forward to seeing this asshole be nothing more than a footnote in the history of entertainment.Good job you racist, homophobic piece of shit.
This Trend of digging through ones entire digital life for a single smear doesnt bode well for future 63rd presidential candidate Caiden Skylar Miller-Gutierrez II….
This guy is definitely going to be trying to cash in on this. I look forward to Fox News creating their own competitor to SNL (unlike the Daily Show competitor they once tried https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_1/2_Hour_News_Hour )
I had totally forgotten that show even existed.
Don’t cry for him Argentina. He’ll have a lucrative career with Joe Rogan, Adam Carolla and Nick Dipaolo crying about his “firs ammemens” and how the mean liberals deprived him of his birthright in showbusiness.
Finally, we have removed the last block to Asians being able to find success in America.
This is where the party ends, Lorne, you doddering old fool.
I keep seeing a lot of “maybe Shane Gillis will get popular on some redpilled/MAGA YouTube channel now” snidery.Hmm. Maybe if he adjusted his terrible jokes so they were aimed at white people (an objectively less privileged group than Asian Americans) and, instead of merely dropping ill-advised slurs and doing shitty caricatured impressions he openly & explicitly expressed his hatred of them and reveled in causing them distress. Then maybe he could skip the YouTube circuit and go straight to a job at the New York Times.
Sharing this. Hopefully non-twitter users can still see it. (It looks like it was from an episode of “hot ones”, so probably findable via youtube that way, too.)
Desus & Mero are unfiltered and funny as hell. Their entire brand of comedy is built upon just shooting the shit, being their authentic selves, not afraid to make off-color jokes, it’s not pre-written routines, it’s all organic riffing, etc.And they recognize that: 1. things they thought were funny years ago actually aren’t, because they’ve gained empathy by meeting people from other cultures and walks of life. And 2. that actually makes their comedy better.Shane Gillis is a racist, yes. But he’s also just a lazy hack. “pushing boundaries” my ass. Racism was a joke back during the days of minstrel shows, so if your routine is fundamentally similar to a type of “comedy” over one hundred years old…yeah that’s the opposite of pushing boundaries. That’s literally retreating from doing any work.https://twitter.com/ADDelgiacco/status/1098837287419269120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1172819905332338688&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollywoodintoto.com%2Fdesus-mero-self-censor-cancel-culture%2F
You got what you wanted. A man’s career was ruined over a joke. Be happy instead of whining about how it wasn’t done sooner or in a way more to your liking.
This makes me extremely happy, Shane.
People have to understand: comedy is all about catharsis. As a straight white guy from Philadelphia, Gillis has to deal with the pain of racism and homophobia every single day. Comedy is his way of releasing some of that horrible stuff out in to the world.
Time to unfreeze Horatio Sanz.
UNFROZEN Caveman Sanz COULD WORK!!
Nah Fox News will hook him up. Failed comedians and successful racists will always land on their feet over there.
Philly-based. Surprise surprise.
So, over-under on him getting hired by the Trump administration?
Bring back Norm!
I wasn’t even expecting Lorne to change his mind. They’ve ridden out past controversies rather than lose face. I can only assume someone at NBC put their foot down. I’m glad they cut ties, but this never should have happened in the first place. They’ve made him a martyr and a hero, lined his pockets for many years to come, and demoralized everyone else, including cast and crew – not to mention the two new cast members who got zero time to find praise or support. I’m not sure what it says that my expectations for SNL are so low I didn’t even think this most basic of decisions would have been made. I don’t dislike the current show as much as many do, but I hope someone sees this as the wakeup call that it is and starts phasing Lorne out and improving the structure and content. It’s time to give up the fantasy of SNL being all things to all people. It never was, and it never will be. I also wish they could replace him as a cast member with someone who is actually funny or has something to offer, or at the very least put writers on Update, the way they used to do years ago, and if one clicks with the audience, make them a featured player.
I can’t believe SNL hired someone who – and I’m not hyperbolic here – is easily worse than Hitler, Goebbels, and the Gorn from Star Trek who fought Captain Kirk… COMBINED.How could NBC drop the ball with their background check in this day and age?!? This is a worse event than all that shit that actually matters! I call for us to storm 30 Rock when we finish with Area 51!
Now who are they going to get that could play a toe?
But what about Leslie Jones and all her racist and hateful rants??!!
Move over, Jeff Dunham! The right now has a new favorite comic! And he doesn’t even have to filter his racism through puppets!
I just like how happy people are to cancel this guy. They love it. It’s sport to them. Fuck this culture.
You’re right. Ok happy that a racist piece of shit lost his job. That makes me pretty much better than you.
Why is everyone patting themselves on the back for having the same opinion in these comments? Very weird sarcastic tone. What the fuck is going on?
Gillis got what he deserved. I’m more concerned about the fact that Barsanti has managed to misspell Asian minority actor Joe Taslim’s name multiple times on his articles regarding the actor, and never bothered to fix it even after multiple people pointed it out as soon as the articles went live. Come on, Barsanti. Put your money where your mouth is.
He can just go join the blue collar comedy tour.
I hear Michael Richards is available.
That’s nice. It still doesn’t make up for 45 years of mostly ignoring Asian talent though.