Shane Gillis and Saturday Night Live didn’t exactly part on good terms in 2019. Just days after being announced as a new cast member, the Pennsylvania native was fired over resurfaced offensive remarks. But since then, Gillis has seen a major career rebound, hosting SNL in February 2024 and returning again in March 2025. Now, he’s gearing up to host the 2025 ESPY Awards. So, what happened back then, and how did he get here? Keep reading to learn more about Shane, his career, and his past with SNL.
Shane is a comedian, a sketch comedy writer and a podcaster. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, he played on his high school’s football team as an offensive tackle. After briefly attending West Point, Shane left during his first year and played football for Elon University for one year. Eventually, he transferred to West Chester University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Upon graduating from college, Shane taught English in Spain for six months. He didn’t officially start stand-up until 2012, performing in several towns in his home state, including Harrisburg and Lancaster, and eventually moving to Philadelphia.
We’ve come a long way… Shane Gillis to host SNL on February 24th pic.twitter.com/rHApaND9y8
— KFC Radio (@KFCradio) February 4, 2024
Less than 10 years into his comedy career, Shane was announced as a featured cast member in 2019 alongside stars Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman. However, shortly after the announcement, clips resurfaced on social media of Shane making controversial comments.
Social media users pointed to clips of Shane using a racial slur to describe people of Asian descent. In one episode of his podcast, “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast,” with comedian Matt McCusker, Shane was heard saying, “Let the f**king ch***s live there” and mimicked a Chinese accent.
After NBC got word of Shane’s past comments, a spokesperson for SNL released a statement, which read, “After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL. 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. We are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard.”
