Comedian Shane Gillis began his monologue as host of “Saturday Night Live” by addressing the elephant in the room. “Yes, I’m here,” he said. “I was fired from this show a while ago, but please don’t look.”
In 2019, Gillis was announced as a cast member for SNL's 45th season. However, after clips emerged of him referring to Chinese people with insults, mocking Chinese accents and using a homophobic epithet, he was eliminated from the series.
SNL names Shane Gillis as host, years after dropping him over a racist joke
Since then, Gillis has risen through the comedy ranks: “Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast,” where Gillis made some of his controversial comments, has over 80,000 paying listeners on Patreon. He launched a web series with John McKeever, released two comedy specials, toured the country and recently collaborated with Bud Light.
In his monologue, Gillis asked the audience to put his jokes behind him and said, “Please don't Google that.” That's good. Don’t worry about it.”
But his new parts weren't exactly PC.
After recognizing his parents in the audience, he said his mother once asked him when they stopped being best friends. In response, he asked the audience, “Do you remember when you were gay?” Do you remember when you were a gay little boy?”
Gillis explained that every boy is his mother's “best gay friend” until he masturbates for the first time, and then “you wonder, 'When is this b—– leaving the house?'”
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He also started stand-up content that was well received online: “I don't know if you can tell by me, but I have family members with Down syndrome.”
Seemingly sensing the audience's discomfort, he paused and remarked, “Look, I don't have any material that could be shown on television.”
After that icebreaker, he imagined a future scenario for his niece with Down syndrome and her three adopted black siblings. At some point, he said, a white kid will taunt them with an outdated word for a person with a mental disability — a term Gillis says on stage — “and then three black kids come flying out of nowhere and start on this cracker to whine.”
Gillis also starred in several sketches during the show, including a trailer for the feature film “White Men Can Trump,” in which he juxtaposed his Donald Trump impersonation with the praised caricature of James Austin Johnson. After slipping on a pair of gold Trump sneakers (which sell for $399), he transforms into an orange poser who can convince people not to believe what they see. (When he shoots an air ball in basketball, he says to his teammates, “I didn't miss anything. The ball went in.”)
Gillis, deeply tanned, with the signature Trump haircut and a very long red tie, is greeted by Johnson (playing the real Trump), who tells him, “The real magic was in you all along.”
Gillis replies: “Wrong. It’s from the shoes and you seem very stupid and, to be honest, quite rude coming in here like that.”