In 2019, Saturday Night Live made headlines after firing Shane Gillis before he was ever able to step on stage. He was ultimately let go after jokes he made on a podcast that included racial and homophobic slurs resurfaced and went viral. However, the choice to let him go wasn’t one SNL’s boss Lorne Michaels agreed with, and he recently clarified his thoughts on the matter.
Ultimately, the call to fire Gillis came from NBC, not Michaels, and he wasn't thrilled about the decision as he told the WSJ:
He said something stupid, but it got blown up into the end of the world. I was angry. I thought, ‘You haven’t seen what we’re going to do, and what I’m going to try to bring out in him, because I thought he was the real thing.'
The story notes that SNL has handled its fair share of controversial comments. Citing polarizing hosts like Donald Trump and Andrew Dice Clay, Norm Macdonald’s O.J. Simpson jokes, and a photo of the pope being ripped by Sinéad O’Connor as a few examples, it’s clear that Michaels has handled backlash before.
However, what happened with Gillis was a fire that couldn’t be contained. To that point, SNL’s leader made it clear that the comedian’s firing wasn’t a choice he agreed with:
That was very strong from the people in charge. And obviously I was not on that side, but I understood it.
In the end, the comedian and the show went their separate ways. In the years after, Gillis blew up as a stand-up comedian with his special Beautiful Dogs (which you can watch with a Netflix subscription), and he hosted an episode of SNL's Season 49 as it aired on the 2024 TV schedule. The WSJ story noted that when it came to this choice to invite the stand-up back, Michaels “allows that there was symbolism in his choice" to do this.
When Shane Gillis returned to SNL 18 months after being fired to host – memorably saying during his monologue “I probably shouldn’t be up here” – he was compared to Norm Macdonald who, as I mentioned, got in trouble for controversial jokes. He was dismissed from the show in 1998. Then, in 1999 he returned to host. So, in some ways, the stand-up’s journey is similar to the SNL mainstay's, showing that the show’s boss has had to deal with his fair share of controversy.
Now, with SNL’s Season 50 hosts and musical guest lineup growing and Gillis’ latest standup special Tires available on Netflix, one has to wonder if he’ll come back to host again. Based on Michaels' latest comments about not wanting to fire him in the first place and the fact that he’s already returned once, you never know what will happen.
But for now, here’s what we do know: Saturday Night Live’s 50th season is airing right now, and you can watch it on NBC or with a Peacock subscription every Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET. We’ll also be sure to keep you posted on all updates regarding Gillis' relationship with Michaels.