Bill Hader Weighs in on SNL Dropping Shane Gillis After Racist Comments: 'Everybody Has to ... Grow'
Saturday Night Live alum Bill Hader is sharing his thoughts after SNL hired and then quickly cut comedian Shane Gillis in the wake of viral clips of Gillis previously making racial slurs and homophobic remarks.
Speaking to reporters backstage at the 2019 Emmy Awards on Sunday night following his outstanding 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 after SNL announced that Gillis would be joining the show, a clip from his podcast last September began to circulate online.
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“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, SNL parted ways with the comedian, announcing their decision last week.
“After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL,” a spokesperson said in a statement on behalf of show creator Lorne Michaels.
“We want SNL to 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 for SNL,” the statement continued.
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“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.”
After SNL announced that Gillis was no longer a part of the cast, he released a statement of his own on Twitter, saying he respected the show’s decision. He had earlier tried to defend his past comments, saying on Twitter, “I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss. … I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended.”
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 get SNL. That can’t be taken away.”
“Of course I wanted an opportunity to prove myself at SNL, 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 Primetime Emmy Awards are airing live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles starting at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.
