After several clips of his racist, homophobic podcast leaked online, new Saturday Night Live performer Shane Gillis issued a half-hearted apology, while his employer declined to issue a statement on his future.
Gillis, a Philadelphia comic known for his highly offensive humor, was cast on the sketch comedy show along with Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang, a gay man and the show's first Asian performer. Hours after the announcement by SNL, video and audio emerged of Gillis using anti-Asian slurs, imitating the accents of Asian people, judging the appearances of women, declaring white women horrible at comedy, sexualizing trans people, and repeatedly denigrating gay people and using an antigay slur several times.
Amid outrage, Gillis released this half-baked apology Thursday night:
Gillis's attempt at quelling the scandal hasn't quieted the fury over his hiring, or answered questions over how much SNL creator Lorne Michaels knew about him when he was cast. A request from The Advocate for comment on Gillis and his racist, homophobic videos was not returned by NBC officials.
Neither SNL nor NBC has tweeted out anything in response to Gillis's racism and homophobia. However, NBC Out, the network's LGBTQ news section, tweeted out a story chronicling Gillis's racism.
