Saturday Night Live

[Epic Springs]

If you've read "Live from New York" then you'd know that Lorne has always been a next-level nutjob. Completely changed my view of him after watching that.

 

[strummer]

announced that fucking Eddie Murphy is hosting this season!!! Holy fucking shit yes!!!

Dec. 21!!!

Not counting the 40th special his first time on the show since 1984

And Leslie Jones left the show. Damn legit shocked over that

 

[King Kamala]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/09/12/snl-announces-new-cast-members-season-including-writer-bowen-yang/
SNL announced its new castmembers for Season 45. Includings its first Asian American castmember and a stand up comic who used the term "Chinks" last year.

insert Jim Halpert gif.

I actually did a show with Shane in Boston a year or two ago and I was very, very surprised he got cast before this whole controversy blew up. He's a great comic but he doesn't seem like SNL material at all. I think the best case scenario is him getting underused for a year and going back to doing stand up. Worst case is...well, probably this.

 

[Brocklock]

I saw the footage of the podcast that was from last year with the Chinese comments and it didn't even seem like it was supposed to be funny. It was just a terribly racist unfunny conversation between white assholes. And, his fanbase and subreddit seem to be filled with the types that use soyboy unironically and lean alt-right.

this might be one of the weakest one of these apologies idk. I guess he didn't have a recipe on the bottom like Mario Batali's apology.

Vulture uncovered another podcast episode from last year where Gillis and McCusker focus on their aggrieved status as straight white men, bemoaning a Rolling Stone list of up-and-coming comics that focused on women, gays, and racial minorities.

"That'd be like me [ranking] new NBA draft prospects, [and choosing] eight white guys," Gillis says. "You're ignoring who's actually good at this." McCusker then says, "No, it'd be like eight white gay guys." Gillis then makes fun of gay former NFL player Michael Sam.

The men then rank different groups on how funny they are, with gay "dudes" and white "chicks" at the bottom. Gillis and McCusker then discuss Sarah Silverman's appearance ("she's a Jew," one of the men says) and criticize her for discussing women's rights.

The men then make fun of comic Hasan Minhaj, imitating his voice in a fey manner, call him a "pussy," discuss whether he's ever had sex with a man, and say he looks like a "lesbian." Then they discuss other male comics who incorporate their mental struggles into their routines.

"Those guys are loving gayer than Isis," Gillis says. "These white f*ggot comics, they're like, I'm just sad life is hard and I'm gay."
Gillis uses the antigay slur several more times, saying at one point to succeed as a comic requires a lot of "dick-sucking." According to Gillis, talented comics eventually say, "I'm not a f*ggot so I'm not going to do this."

Yeah this guy isn't gonna last long.

 

[King Kamala]

I doubt SNL will fire him before Day 1 but I'd be surprised if he lasts more than a season.

Him getting hired by SNL in the first place is just baffling. I'm almost willing to bet he got it cause Michael Che is a huge fan.

 

[Brocklock]

I don't know him or even heard his act before this, but gathering from the people defending him I'm guessing it was to court the angry white men that think PC is ruining comedy crowd. I imagine Gillis will quietly be fired after barely appearing then hit the Joe Rogan circuit.

 

[King Kamala]

SNL had Trump host during his presidential campaign plus a number of stand ups with a history of problematic statements (like Michael Che) so I highly doubt they're going to fire Shane before Day 1. Knowing his stand up, even putting politics aside, he seems tonally a bad fit for SNL.

And it's baffling that SNL would try to appeal to the Bill Burr/Joe Rogan type crowd when they haven't watched SNL in probably 20 years.

 

[BUTT]

Never heard of this dude before yesterday but I looked him up and he used to do a show on Compound Media which is Anthony Cumia’s company so I’m not surprised that he’s scum.

 

[Baby Shoes]

Whenever Melissa Villasenor started someone similarly unearthed some similar racist "joke" tweets she had done previously. She seemed to be in the background for a while but was getting other work and featured more last year.

 

[Brocklock]

I mean Villasenor's tweets were shitty as well, but they were from 2011 iirc. Not that it excuses her, but it was 8 years ago and she was in her early twenties I believe. There's just more and more coming out about this Gillis guy like these comments from May where he calls Andrew Yang a double slur that I am too much of a soyboy to repeat.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wjwxxw/heres-even-more-audio-of-shane-gillis-saturday-night-live-gleefully-saying-slurs

Then this which I guess is allegedly true, but still based on all that is coming out I'll believe it

https://twitter.com/dan_vetrano/status/1172615896373833734
https://twitter.com/Idreamofreemy/status/1172667400619249664

 

[Baby Shoes]

Oh yeah, everything coming out with him has been gross - I was just saying with her, it got brushed to the side so won't be surprised if it does with this one too.

 

[Brocklock]

It could, but I don't think the Villasenor stuff made national news but I might be wrong. I saw this mentioned on MSNBC and CNN. I mean they fired Jenny Slate for accidentally saying Fuck on live tv, so it's a weird double standard if this racist alt right guy no one heard of two days ago that's friends with the head writer gets to stay.

 

[Baby Shoes]

If I remember right, I think they let Slate stay in the background the rest of the season, despite having that slip in the first episode, then quietly let her go at the end of the season claiming it wasn't related.

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/RachelMComedy/status/1172540838230003712

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1172892672798969861
Let Andrew Yang host SNL now, Lorne, you coward.

 

[CookieMueller]

I can't wait for his week 1 Weekend Update bit where he HILARIOUSLY addresses this.

 

[Brocklock]

Or the "hilarious" sketch where he and Bowen Yang hug it out and awkwardly make up.

 

[King Kamala]

Him, Bowen Yang, Andrew Yang and Judd Apatow sharing a hug during Weekend Update.


Three days later and still nothing from SNL. I think it's pretty obvious they're gonna give him a season then quietly let him go during the offseason to become a regular on the Joe Rogan Experience.

 

[Valeyard]

It'll be the best when Pete Davidson makes a joke about it and apologizes meekly the next week.

 

[King Kamala]

Woah. SNL actually canned him.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/michaelblackmon/shane-gillis-racist-comments-snl?fbclid=IwAR1pWDd--IdUYDG0jpxUUbLjnqdaJo_80ZL-knkKn1lXHIHbEo2f5IZDxL8

https://twitter.com/Shanemgillis/status/1173690932832505856?s=20

 

[Epic Springs]

This only boosted his profile, to be honest.

https://twitter.com/normmacdonald/status/1173705160712810496

Really dude?

 

[King Kamala]

Norm's been a doofus for a while now. Remember his interview where he lamented the cruel cruel fate of Louis CK and Roseanne after they were attacked by those vicious SJWs from a year or so back?

 

[Epic Springs]

I'm surprised at how many veteran comedians and SNL alum have voiced their support for Shane. I guess I shouldn't expect much out of Norm but others played the whole "PC/CANCEL CULTURE ARE RUINING COMEDY!" card.

 

[KingPK]

I think a lot of comedians are struggling to adjust to a time where certain kinds of comedy and jokes don't fly anymore. The line has moved and they don't know where it is and that makes them scared/angry.

 

[King Kamala]

As a semi-professional comic, I would say AT LEAST 2/3rds of my peers are taking Shane's side and are really upset about this. Even amongst liberal comics, I'd say the divide is 50/50. There's even a few Asian comics that are pro Gillis.

I guess I can see their point as it sets a bad precedent for comics to get fired over bad material, to an extent. But there's also literally no job in America where you wouldn't get fired for using slurs so publicly.

I get that ironic racism isn't as bad as actual racism but it's still racism.

Also maybe one of these days I'll go through with my idea for a self indulgent CXF column about life on the New England comedy circuit 8)

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

you absolutely should do that.

There's a way to do a comedy routine about racism that is funny without being racist. Good comedians do it all the time. I finally forced myself to look up some of the stuff this idiot said and this guy deserved to get axed for sure. This isn't about PC culture at all (which I know no one here is saying).

These comedians who are complaining need to get real. If you want to be a dipshit and do that material you aren't going to be on SNL and other mainstream stuff. He can and will still make a living catering to idiots who like his shit though.

 

[King Kamala]

I'm going to go ahead and say, in a weird way, this is absolutely the best possible result for Shane. Tell it like it is, blue collared stand up comedians have fared quite poorly on SNL. Chris Rock is a Top 10 if not Top 5 all time stand up and his SNL run was mediocre at best. I don't doubt that Shane Gillis would've been a one and done castmember.

But now he's a pariah and a folk hero amongst stand up comics. He's just starting to become a touring headliner and I highly doubt most clubs/rooms will cancel his shows. Norm McDonald, Bill Burr, and Jim Jeffries have all defended him and I can guarantee you that Joe Rogan is racing like the Road Runner to get him on his podcast.

He's probably gotten more exposure for this than he would have as a featured player. Wonder if Brooks Wheelan is wondering if he should've dropped some slurs.

 

[Baby Shoes]

I dunno, Brooks is being faux TJ Miller for Disney on Big Hero 6: The Series, so maybe more like Finesse Mitchell.

 

[King Kamala]

Jon Rudnitsky is calling the manager of the Funny Bone right now and saying "I too have opinions on the Asian American community"

 

[Mickey Massuco]

I was saying that before too Mr. Delaney, that Gillis's brand is gonna be boosted bigly from this whole situation. For a guy with his style, being this kind of 'too hot for tv' pariah is perfect.