Why was Shane Gillis fired from ‘SNL’? Comedian returns as host

Shane Gillis made a return to Saturday Night Live as a host on March 1. This would mark his second time on the show, after his rocky history with the sketch series.

His return is surprising to many, especially considering his first gig last year received tons of negative reviews.

Gillis was originally hired as a cast member in 2019, but within days he was fired. This was due to the resurfacing of old videos where he mocked the East Asian accent. He was reportedly spotted using racial and homophobic slurs.

NBC called his comments,

offensive, hurtful and unacceptable.

At that time, Shane Gillis responded by saying and expressing that he understood as to why his presence on the show would be "too much of a distraction."

Despite his controversial exit, SNL brought him back to host the show again. This decision has stirred strong reactions, from both supporters and critics.

Despite the criticism, SNL creator Lorne Michaels has been vocal about supporting Gillis. He told the Wall Street Journal last year that he was quite upset and "angry" as a matter of fact, when Shane Gillis was fired.

Lorne believed that the decision was premature and that people today are "too quick to judge". Comedians are randomly criticised nowadays for past comments, which he thinks is not fair.

Since his firing, Gillis has built a successful career in the stand-up field.

Shane has his specials on Netflix and YouTube. He also stars in the Netflix series Tires and co-hosts Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast.

Now, with SNL giving him another chance, the audience will be watching closely to see if he redeems himself, or repeats his mistakes.

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Mistakes Shane Gillis made during Hosting his First Gig

Shane Gillis's first time hosting SNL didn't go smoothly. His opening monologue was awkward. He seemed quite uncomfortable on stage.

He even brought up his firing and said,

If you don't know who I am, please don't Google that.

This place is extremely well-lit. I can see everyone not enjoying it.

Many renowned critics from NPR, The Hollywood Reporter, etc, said he "struggled" or even "bombed".

One of his jokes about his father, a high school girls' basketball coach, received some laughs, but not as much as Shane Gillis expected. When the audience didn't respond the way he thought they would, he awkwardly said,

I thought it was great, never mind. Thought that was gonna be a big hit here.

Another joke about one of his family members having Down syndrome also felt kind of boring. To this he stated that he has no other material that could be on TV.

The sketches in his episodes didn't pan out well. Some critics stated that they were drawn out "too long". The sketch where Shane Gillis had a "terrible Jamaican accent" was also criticised. Overall, he lacked the energy needed for the show to be a hit.