Several Comedians Condemn Shane Gillis Over Racial Slurs

The Shane Gillis saga continues to live on. From the fact that his racial slurs from the past have been resurfacing to how the man himself has released a statement and that creating noise in itself. This probably will not witness any end till Saturday Night Live! showrunner makes a comment on the issue.

But before that, things are actually elevating as several other comedians are condemning Gillis' slurs. According to Variety, footage of Gillis’s podcast, “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast,” was posted to social media by entertainment journalist Seth Simons on Thursday. In it, Gillis, when discussing New York City’s Chinatown, is heard saying, “Let the f-cking ch-nks live there,” and mocks immigrants’ language skills.

In other episodes, Gillis makes derogatory remarks about women, Muslims and the LBTQ community. 

The controversy comes on the heels of news that staff writer Bowen Yang, who is gay and Chinese American, would be added to the show’s 45th season roster, only the third cast member of Asian descent to join; previous cast members Fred Armisen and Rob Schneider are of part Asian descent. 

“As a comedian, I usually side with the comedians on sensitive subjects. But this is just plain racist. [It’s] truly disgusting,” wrote Silicon Valley star Jimmy O. Yang on Twitter. “This man has to go @nbcsnl.”

W. Kamau Bell, host of CNN’s “United Shades of America,” responded to Gillis’s statement, writing, “As a comic who also “pushes boundaries” part of the deal [is] getting pushback. If you don’t want pushback then don’t “push boundaries.” Also the boundaries of “jokes” on native Chinese [people] not speaking English well were already pushed by comics when TVs only came in black and white.”

Added Always Be My Maybe and Lost star, Daniel Dae Kim, “It took 45 years for @SNL to get an East Asian cast member and in that same year, he’ll be joined by someone who would have no problem calling him a “f–kin’ ch-nk.” Gotta be a joke in there somewhere.”

Others addressed Gillis more directly, like comedian Atsuko Okatsuka, who tweeted, “[Were] you or were you not just casually eating a sandwich while voice texting this apology on your iPhone [with] a cracked screen?? Where’s the respect?? At least sign the damn thing. Use apology letter font (Times New Roman).”

What do you think of the saga? Leave in your comments below.