Variety reports that Saturday Night Live has hired comedian Shane Gillis who said racist comments about presidential candidate Andrew Yang.
Footage of a podcast run by Gillis titled Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast has re-surfaced online, showing Gillis making racist remarks about Asians.
Discussing New York City’s Chinatown, Gillis said “let the fucking chinks live there”, adding that “an Asian trying to learn English bothers [him].”
Featuring on Luis J Gomez’s Real Ass Podcast, Gillis dismissed Bernie sanders as a “commie Jew chink” and referred to Yang as a “Jew chink” as well.
“That Jew chink?” he said. “Commie Jew chink? Next, please, next. Gimme your next candidate, Dems. Jew chink, next. Actually, they are running a Jew chink: Chang, dude. Yang, or Chang?”
Many have since called for SNL to dismiss Gillis including Jimmy O Yang. “As a comedian I usually side with the comedians on sensitive subjects,” Yang tweeted. “But this is just plain racist. Its truly disgusting. Standing up against this is just as important as supporting our Asi an brothers and sisters. This man has to go.”
Daniel Dae Kim said he was proud that SNL hired their first East Asian cast member Bowen Yang but was disappointed that he would be joined by Gillis. “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 “fuckin’ chink.”
Gotta be a joke in there somewhere,” he tweeted.
Kim’s Convenience actor Simu Liu called for NBC to respond to the criticism. “It wasn’t funny then, and it sure as hell isn’t funny today,” the Shang-Chi star said. “This word has been used to dehumanize my people for over 150 years. You don’t get to use it in the name of edgy comedy. Like the other members of my community I am eagerly awaiting @nbcsnl’s response.”
Gillis has since released a statement saying he did not mean to offend anyone and was just “pushing the boundaries.”
“I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss.” He added, “I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve said.”
However, some were not happy with his response either, with comedian Atsuko Okatsuka tweeting “lmao is it an apology if he’s still thinking about it? and i mean i know he is because that blue type cursor still on. @Shanemgillis were you or were you not just casually eating a sandwich while voice texting this apology on your iPhone w/ a cracked screen??Where’s the respect?? At least sign the damn thing. Use apology letter font (Times New Roman). I don’t wanna see the lazy process!”
The only person who doesn’t seem to be calling for Gillis to lose his new job is Yang himself, who offered to sit down and chat with him.
“I prefer comedy that makes people think and doesn’t take cheap shots,” Yang tweeted. “But I’m happy to sit down and talk with you if you’d like. For the record, I do not think he should lose his job. We would benefit from being more forgiving rather than punitive. We are all human.”
today SNL announced the hiring of its first cast member of East Asian descent, and also this guy pic.twitter.com/0FAGJZJUkK
— Seth Simons (@sasimons) 12 September 2019
this, again, is from September 2018 pic.twitter.com/inYFT22zjl
— Seth Simons (@sasimons) 12 September 2019
Shane – I prefer comedy that makes people think and doesn’t take cheap shots. But I’m happy to sit down and talk with you if you’d like. https://t.co/YxbzQ5WVLX
— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) 14 September 2019
It wasn’t funny then, and it sure as hell isn’t funny today.
This word has been used to dehumanize my people for over 150 years. You don’t get to use it in the name of edgy comedy.
Like the other members of my community I am eagerly awaiting @nbcsnl’s response. pic.twitter.com/oWAl7NuLKK
— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) 15 September 2019
lmao is it an apology if he’s still thinking about it? and i mean i know he is because that blue type cursor still on pic.twitter.com/IO4rhpTjRT
— Atsuko Okatsuka (@AtsukoComedy) 13 September 2019
lmao is it an apology if he’s still thinking about it? and i mean i know he is because that blue type cursor still on pic.twitter.com/IO4rhpTjRT
— Atsuko Okatsuka (@AtsukoComedy) 13 September 2019
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) 13 September 2019
— Shane Gillis (@Shanemgillis) 13 September 2019
