No, this controversy isn't something pulled from a line out of a Dave Chappelle comedy special. It was recently announced that comedian Shane Gillis would become a new cast member on Saturday Night Live, but his addition to the iconic sketch comedy show came to an abrupt halt before he even took to the stage.
Following the casting news, Gillis was hit with a scandal after a 2018 soundbite from his show Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast surfaced. On it, Gillis stated, "Chinatown's f*cking nuts. Let the f*cking ch**ks live there." He also said, "Why do the f*cking ch*nks live there?...Get those ducks out of that window" and added remarks about an Asian person learning English is "more annoying than any other minority playing music loud on their phone."
Cancel Culture didn't hesitate to jump on Gillis and his comments, and on Monday it was announced that Saturday Night Live didn't want to have anything to do with the scandal. "After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided he will not be joining SNL,” a spokesperson on behalf of Lorne Michaels said in a statement. “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 comedian and his impressive audition for SNL. We were not aware of his prior remarks that have surfaced over the past few days. The language is offensive, hurtful and unacceptable. We are sorry we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to standard."
Gillis, who previously apologized if he offended anyone, responded on Monday to the news of his removal from SNL by writing, "It feels ridiculous for comedians to be making serious public statements but here we are. I’m a comedian who was funny enough for SNL,” he continued. “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." Should he have been fired?