Just hours after NBC announced that Shane Gillis would join the cast of Saturday Night Live this coming season, video of him using a homophobic and anti-Asian slur resurfaced.
“Chinatown’s f*cking nuts,” Gillis can be heard saying. Less than a minute later he says “Let the f*cking ch*nks live there.”
The comments were made during a discussion with co-host Matt McCusker about Chinese people and food on their 2018 podcast Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast.
It resurfaced after freelance reporter Seth Simons tweeted it out. That tweet can not be embedded and the podcast has been since scrubbed.
The tweet comes just hours after NBC also announced it was adding comedian Bowen Yang to its SNL cast. Yang, who will join a show criticized for its lack of diversity, is also gay.
Vulture reports McCusker and Gillis have also used homophobic slurs in the not too distant past.
In a discussion about Judd Apatow and Chris Gethard, the two are called “white f*ggot comics” and “f*cking gayer than ISIS.”
NBC has not yet commented about the two incidents.
Thursday night, Gillis took to Twitter in an attempt to explain himself.
“I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries,” he said. “I sometimes miss. If you go through my ten years of comedy, most of it bad, you’re going to find a lot of bad misses. I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve said. My intention is never to hurt anyone, but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risk.”
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RE: New SNL cast member Shane Gillis used anti-Asian slur: Intention and reality are two different levels of consciousness, and Gillis seems to be pretty unconscious when it comes to his prejudices. Hope he gets canned. Using gays or Asians to be funny is like kindergarteners finding the word ‘naked’ Or ‘poo poo’ hilarious. Immature and highly unsophisticated attempt at humor.