Photo:Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Stand-up comedian Shane Gillis made hisSaturday Night Livedebut this weekend.
The comic, 36, hosted the series for the first time Saturday night, with rapper 21 Savage joining the show as the musical guest. Gillis' hosting gig comes five years after he hadhis offer to join the show’s cast revoked for making racially-charged jokeson his podcast in 2018.
Joking about his initial offer to join the show in his opening monologue, Gillis said, “I was actually, I was fired from this show a while ago,” before adding, “But… don’t look that up, please, if you don’t know who I am, please, don’t Google that. It’s fine, don’t even worry about it.”
“I don’t know, I probably shouldn’t be up here, honestly,” he continued, before joking that he should instead be “home” or “a high school football coach.”
“Like, God molded me perfectly to be a high school football coach,” Gillis told the audience, adding that it was his “true calling.”
“I actually I come from a long line of coaches in my family,” Gillis continued, adding “My father is actually a volunteer assistant girls high school basketball coach,” before shouting out his dad in the audience.
Elsewhere in the monologue, he joked about his relationship with his mom and discussed his family members with Down syndrome. Gillis also took part in a number of fun skits during the show, including one where heplayed an unlucky basketball playerwhose life is transformed when he is gifted a pair of former presidentDonald Trump’snew gold sneakers,However, instead of the sneakers making him a better player, they give him a new attitude where he can convince others that what he believes is the truth, even if it isn’t.
In another sketch withBowen Yang,Kenan ThompsonandChloe Fineman, Gillisplayed a creepy employeeduring a meeting about workplace behavior.
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In 2019,SNLannounced that Gillis, along with now-cast membersBowen YangandChloe Fineman, would be joining the sketch comedy series for its 45th season. However, just days after his casting was announced, the comedian drew criticism when a September 2018 clip from his podcastMatt and Shane’s Secret Podcastresurfaced for his use of a racial slur.
“Chinatown’s f—— nuts,” Gillis says to his co-host, comedian Matt McCusker in the now-deleted clip. “Let the f—— ch—- live there.”
Helater apologized, writing on X (formerly Twitter) that he was sorry “to anyone who’s actually offended.”
The series later announced that they had decided to revoke their offer for Gillis to join the show, calling his remarks “unacceptable.”
“After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL,”an SNL spokesperson told PEOPLEin a statement back in 2019.
“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,” the statement finished. “We are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard.”
Gillis later said that he “respected” the show’s decision inan X statement, writing that “of course I wanted an opportunity to prove myself atSNL, 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,” he wrote in 2019.
Elsewhere in the episode, Gillis [TK sketch].
21 Savage, 31, also took the stage at 30 Rockefeller, performing his songs [TK] and [TK].
Ahead of his first time hosting the comedy series, Gillis appeared in a promo video, joking around about what would be included in his monologue. As he rehearsed for some cast members, Gillisriffed aboutPlanet of the Apesand “Electric Slide” in jokes that fell flat.
Gillis is next set to hit the road for a series of stand-up shows across North America, beginning at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on March 1.
Saturday Night Liveairs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
source: people.com
