Saturday Night LivealumBill Haderis sharing his thoughts afterSNLhired and then quickly cut comedianShane Gillisin the wake of viral clips of Gillis previously making racial slurs and homophobic remarks.
Speaking to reporters backstage at the 2019Emmy Awardson Sunday night following hisoutstanding lead actor in a comedy series win, Hader, 41, said, “You shouldn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, you know. But I think also, especially in comedy, you do stuff, six or seven years ago, that wouldn’t be okay now, and probably for good reason. You know what I mean?”
“So I think a lot of us are — you know, I only speak for myself — but everybody has to kind of grow,” Hader continued. “And so I think it’s a good thing. I’m never interested in upsetting anybody.”
Earlier this month, just hours afterSNLannounced that Gillis would be joining the show,a clip from his podcast last Septemberbegan to circulate online.
Frazer Harrison/Getty; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
“Chinatown’s f—— nuts,” Gillis said to co-host Matt McCusker in the clip, which shows them sarcastically riffing with one another.
“Let the f—— ch— live there,” he adds.
Talking about eating at Chinese restaurants, Gillis said, “The translation between you and the waiter is such a f—— hassle, I’m pointing at it.” He also mimicked Chinese accents.
In another clip from a 2018 episode of their show, Gillis called some comedians “f—— gayer than ISIS” and “white f—– comics.”
After the videos spread widely,SNLparted ways with the comedian, announcing their decision last week.
Shane Gillis.Shane Gillis/Instagram
“After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joiningSNL,” a spokesperson said in a statement on behalf of show creatorLorne Michaels.
“We wantSNLto have a variety of voices and points of view within the show, and we hired Shane on the strength of his talent as comedian and his impressive audition forSNL,” the statement continued.
“We were not aware of his prior remarks that have surfaced over the past few days. The language he used is offensive, hurtful and unacceptable,” the statement reads. “We are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard.”
In a second statement, he wrote, “It feels ridiculous for comedians to be making serious public statements but here we are. I’m a comedian who was funny enough to getSNL. That can’t be taken away.”
“Of course I wanted an opportunity to prove myself atSNL, but I understand it would be too much of a distraction. I respect the decision they made,” he continued. “I’m honestly grateful for the opportunity. I was always a mad tv guy anyway.”
The 71st PrimetimeEmmy Awardsare airing live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles starting at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.
source: people.com
