The BBC reports that SNL has fired Shane Gillis in under one week after casting him.
Gillis was dropped from the US comedy sketch shows for making racist remarks about Chinese people and Andrew Yang.
In one clip Gillis called Yang a “Jew chink”. in another he stated that “an Asian trying to learn English bothers [him].”
An SNL spokesman confirmed that the show has dropped Gillis from its team. “After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL,” the spokesperson said.
The statement added that Gillis’s comments were unknown to producer Lorne Michaels prior to his hiring. “We want SNL to have a variety of voices and points of view within the show … 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 responded by saying, “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 it would be too much of a distraction.”
“I respect the decision they made,” he added. “I am honestly grateful for the opportunity.”
In related news, Yang himself has come under fire for making a joke about Asian doctors that reinforces the model minority myth.
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
