Shane Gillis To Host 'Saturday Night Live,' Proving Woke Comedy Doesn't Work
The once-canceled comedian will host 'SNL' on Feb. 24 — four and a half years after the NBC sketch comedy show fired him from its cast.
Last week, Shane Gillis was tasked with saving Bud Light. Next, he'll attempt to save Saturday Night Live. The once-canceled comedian will host SNL on Feb. 24 — four and a half years after the NBC sketch comedy show fired him from its cast.
Gillis originally landed his dream job with SNL in September 2019. However, the show let him go just five days later because of an organized smear campaign over old clips in which Gillis mocked Asian accents and gay people.
"We want SNL to have a variety of voices and points of view within the show," a spokesperson for producer Lorne Michaels said at the time. "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."
Gillis shrugged off the firing, saying "I'm a comedian who was funny enough to get on SNL. That can't be taken away." The 36 year old also released a statement explaining that he "pushes boundaries" and that being the best comedian sometimes means "taking risks."
But pushing boundaries and taking risks isn't in Saturday Night Live's playbook. At least it hasn't been for quite some time. Sure, the show's had its shining moments. But for the most part, SNL has gone the way of its weeknight talk show counterparts, like Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
The formula is this: Serve as a mouthpiece for left-wing politicians and media. Make the same, recycled jokes about Donald Trump over and over. And it's only OK to make fun of someone if that person is white, straight or a Republican.
It's old, it's tired and it's not funny. Maybe SNL is starting to see that.
Shane Gillis Gets The Last Laugh
Americans are pushing back.
As it turns out, tiptoeing around people's feelings doesn't make for great comedy. That's why the attempted Netflix boycott over Dave Chappelle was a complete failure. And that's why Gillis is getting another shot.
Redemption is sweet, isn't it?
Of course, the news of Gillis' SNL hosting gig comes just days after the comedian inked a deal with Bud Light. This partnership is the beer giant's latest attempt at salvaging itself after its disastrous decision to work with female impersonator Dylan Mulvaney in April 2023.
The commemorative can featuring Mulvaney's face had, at one point, cost Anheuser-Busch $27 billion in market value and its standing as the top beer company in the world for the first time in 22 years.
(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
So now, after nearly destroying itself to appease the woke mob, Bud Light is actually listening to its consumers and giving them what they want. Maybe — just maybe — SNL is doing the same.
Is Shane Gillis' appearance a sign of funnier things to come from Saturday Night Live? Time will tell.
But one thing is certain: This monologue is going to be epic.