New York, NY – Comedian Shane Gillis made a controversial return to the spotlight by hosting Saturday Night Live, where he addressed his 2019 firing from the show. Gillis, 36, opened his monologue by acknowledging his past dismissal from the sketch comedy series for using racial and homophobic slurs on a podcast. Despite the incident, Gillis confidently joked, “Most of you probably have no idea who I am. I was actually fired from this show a while ago. But, you know, 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.”
Throughout the monologue, Gillis made light of personal anecdotes, including his sister marrying an Arab man from Egypt and their adoption of three Black children. He humorously compared visiting their house to “getting into the craziest Uber Pool you’ve ever been in.” Gillis also made jokes about some of his family members having Down syndrome, playfully noting that they are “doing better than everybody I know” and “are the only ones having a pretty good time consistently.”
However, not all reactions to Gillis’ performance were positive. Some viewers at home expressed discomfort with his jokes, with one X user stating, “Shane Gillis hosting SNL was so cringe that I changed the channel to watch the sag awards instead no joke.” Another viewer added, “I absolutely need to hear Shane Gillis’ SNL monologue without the laugh tracks.”
Gillis, originally hired by “SNL” in 2019 but fired just five days later before even making his on-air debut, has since gained popularity through his Netflix specials, “Live In Austin” and “Beautiful Dogs.” He has also been a frequent guest on Joe Rogan’s podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
In the days leading up to his return to “SNL,” reports indicated that Gillis planned to incorporate his trademark Down syndrome jokes into his performance. Despite the mixed reactions to his monologue, Gillis remains unapologetic in his comedic approach and continues to push boundaries in the entertainment industry.