SNL’s Lorne Michaels Calls Backlash to Shane Gillis Hiring an ‘Overreaction’
In 2019, comedian Shane Gillis was initially recruited for Saturday Night Live together with Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman. However, while Yang and Fineman remain as cast members on the show currently, Gillis didn’t make it to his debut episode. The reason being that Lorne Michaels, the head of SNL, reconsidered and let go of Gillis following the reemergence of comedy clips featuring racial stereotypes and homophobic language from his past shows. Despite his assertions that these jokes were presented out of context, they led to his dismissal from the show.