New ‘SNL’ Cast Member Shane Gillis Used Anti-Asian Racial Slur in 2018 Podcast Episode (Video)

“SNL” also added Bowen Yang Thursday, its first cast member of full Asian descent

| September 12, 2019 @ 4:02 PM Last Updated: September 12, 2019 @ 10:48 PM
Shane Gillis

Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast

Brand-new “Saturday Night Live” cast member Shane Gillis, whose casting was just announced Thursday morning, used a racial slur and stereotypes about Asians in a September 2018 episode of his podcast “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast.”

“Chinatown’s f–ing nuts,” Gillis says to comedian Matt McCusker in a since-deleted YouTube video from a September 2018 episode of the podcast. “Let the f–ing c—-s live there, huh?” Later in the same episode, Gillis imitates stereotypes about the way Asian immigrants speak English, and references stereotypes about Chinese culture.

Reps for NBC, “SNL” and Gillis did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment Thursday.

Also Read: Meet the New Kids of 'SNL' Season 45: Chloe Fineman, Bowen Yang and Shane Gillis (Videos)

On Thursday night, Gillis issued a statement offering to “apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve said,” but describing himself as “a comedian who pushes boundaries” who is “trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks.” See more here.

The video surfaced on Twitter after it was posted by freelance journalist Seth Simons.

In a second video from the same podcast episode, Gillis says, “An Asian trying to learn English bothers me more than someone listening to Lil Uzi Vert while I’m trying to eat f—ing dinner,” adding, “Nice racism. I love to be f—ing racist.”

And Vulture reported that Gillis has a history of making bigoted jokes, including other podcast recordings in which he disparaged female comedians and mocked comics like Judd Apatow and Chris Gethard using homophobic slurs.

“One of the guys SNL hired today is in trouble for calling me a f—-t on his podcast (among other things). This was his reaction to my special about depression. I feel confident that at least in this moment I’m more proud of Career Suicide than he is of his shitty podcast,” Gethard tweeted in reponse.

Vulture also quoted the co-owner of Philadelphia’s Good God Comedy Theatre, who said the club “stopped working with him within the past few years because of racist, homophobic, and sexist things he’s said on and offstage.”

One of the other two new cast members added to “SNL” Thursday was the show’s first member of full Asian decent, Bowen Yang. Yang moved up from his position as a staff writer on the show, for which he was hired last year. Groundlings alum Chloe Fineman is the third of the three new additions announced Thursday.

The 45th season premiere of “SNL” airs Sept. 28 on NBC.

Antonio Banderas, Kerry Washington and 95 More Portraits From TheWrap's Toronto Studio (Photos)

  • TIFF2019 portrait split
  • Robert Pattinson, Robert Eggers, and Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse
  • Kerry Washington, American Son
  • Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
  • Bryce Dallas Howard, Dads
  • Isabelle Huppert, Frankie
  • Isabelle Huppert and Ira Sachs, Frankie
  • Christopher Plummer, Knives Out
  • Katherine Langford, Knives Out
  • Jaeden Martell, Knives Out
  • Jamie Lee Curtis, Knives Out
  • Don Johnson, Knives Out
  • Toni Collette, Knives Out
  • Knives Out Cast and Director Rian Johnson
  • Finn Wittrock, Renée Zellweger, and Rupert Goold, Judy
  • Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
  • Leslie Odom Jr, Harriet
  • Kasi Lemmons, Harriet
  • Harriet Director and Cast
  • Marielle Heller, A Beautiful Day
  • Enrico Colantoni, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
  • Kelvin Harrison Jr, Waves
  • Alexa Demie, Waves
  • Lucas Hedges, Waves
  • Taylor Russell, Waves
  • Trey Edward Shults, Waves
  • Waves Cast and Director Trey Edward Schults
  • Dakota Johnson, The Friend
  • Jason Segel, The Friend
  • Matthew Teague, Dakota Johnson, Jason Segel, and Gabriela Cowperthwaite, The Friend
  • Jamie Dornan, Synchronic
  • Jamie Dornan and Ally Ioannides, Synchronic
  • Ally Ioannides, Justin Benson, Jamie Dornan, and Aaron Moorhead,Synchronic
  • Priyanka Chopra Jonas, The Sky is Pink
  • Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Shonali Bose, The Sky is Pink
  • Isla Fisher, Greed
  • Isla Fisher and Steve Coogan, Greed
  • Beanie Feldstein, How to Build a Girl
  • Alfie Allen, How to Build a Girl
  • Alfie Allen and Beanie Feldstein, How to Build a Girl
  • Coky Giedroyc, Caitlin Moran, Beanie Feldstein, and Alfie Allen, How to Build a Girl
  • Bolude Watson, Hearts and Bones
  • Andrew Luri, Hearts and Bones
  • Hugo Weaving, Hearts and Bones
  • Hearts and Bones cast and Director Ben Lawrence
  • Gabe Polsky and Steven Warshaw, Red Penguins
  • Kyle Marvin and Michael Angelo Covino,The Climb
  • Alex Wolff, Bad Education
  • Ray Romano, Bad Education
  • Bad Education Cast
  • Military Wives Director and Cast
  • Ellen Page, There's Something in the Water
  • Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit
  • Roman Griffin Davis, Jojo Rabbit
  • Alfie Allen, Jojo Rabbit
  • Stephen Merchant, Jojo Rabbit
  • JoJo Rabbit Cast and Director Taika Waititi
  • Gael Garcia Bernal, Ema
  • Mariana Di Girolamo, Ema
  • Santiago Cabrera, Ema
  • Gael Garcia Bernal, Mariana Di Girolamo, Santiago Santiago Cabrera, and Pablo Larraín, Ema
  • Julie Delpy, My Zoe
  • RIchard Armitage, My Zoe
  • Richard Armitage and Julie Delpy, My Zoe
  • Halina Reid, Instinct
  • Carice van Houten, Instinct
  • Valerie Pachner, A Hidden Life
  • August Diehl, A Hidden Life
  • Stellan Skarsgård, Hope
  • Andrea Bræin Hovig, Stellan Skarsgård, and Maria Sødahl, Hope
  • Laysla De Oliveira and Rossif Sutherland, Guest of Honour
  • Makoto Shinkai, Weathering With You
  • Daniel Radcliffe, Guns Akimbo
  • Samara Weaving, Guns Akimbo
  • Guns Akimbo Cast and Director Jason Lei Howden
  • Charlie Hunnam, True History of The Kelly Gang
  • George MacKay, True History of the Kelly Gang
  • Justin Kurzel, True History of the Kelly Gang
  • True History of the Kelly Gang Cast and Director
  • Josh and Ben Safdie, Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems
  • Idina Menzel, Uncut Gems
  • Kevin Garnett, Uncut Gems
  • Julia Fox, Uncut Gems
  • LaKeith Stanfield, Uncut Gems
  • Uncut Gems Cast and Directors Safdie Brothers
  • Edgar Ramírez, Wasp Network
  • Wagner Moura, Wasp Network
  • Wasp Network Cast and Director Olivier Assayas
  • Alex Wolff, Human Capital
  • Maya Hawke and Alex Wolff, Human Capital
  • Human Capital Cast and Director Marc Meyers
  • Willem Dafoe, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Edward Norton, Motherless Brooklyn
  • Claes Bang, The Burnt Orange Heresy
  • Giuseppe Capotondi, The Burnt Orange Heresy
  • Hirokazu Koreeda, The Truth
  • Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes
  • The Two Popes Cast, Writer and Director
  • Malky Godman, Keith Thomas, Dave Davis, and Menashe Lustig, The Vigil
1 of 98

Toronto Film Festival 2019: Robert Pattinson, Renée Zellweger, LaKeith Stanfield and more stop by TheWrap’s studio in the Thompson Hotel

View In Gallery

Related Content

Keep
Reading...

Looks like you’re enjoying reading
Keep reading by creating
a free account or logging in.
Continue