Comedian Shane Gillis addressed being fired from Saturday Night Live in 2019 during his debut as host.
He joked to the audience “please don’t Google that” in reference to his firing.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Gillis said. “I was fired from this show a while ago, but don’t look that up, please.”
Gillis was let go shortly after being hired in 2019 over controversial remarks he made using racial slurs against Chinese people on a podcast.
“If you don’t know who I am, please don’t Google that. It’s fine. Don’t even worry about it,” Gillis joked.
During his monologue as host, Gillis made questionable jokes about having family members with Down syndrome.
The audience did not seem amused.
“It almost got me,” Gillis said in regards to the disability. “I dodged it, but it nicked me. It nicked me.”
“Look, I don’t have any material that can be on TV, all right? I’m trying my best. Also, this place is extremely well-lit. I can see everyone not enjoying it. This is the most nervous I’ve ever been,” Gillis said.
In 2019, SNL creator Lorne Michaels said they were “not aware” of Gillis’ past offensive remarks, which led to him not joining the cast.
“After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL,” the show said. “We were not aware of his prior remarks that have surfaced over the past few days. 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.”
Gillis recently announced a partnership with Bud Light for a 2024 comedy tour.
