‘I was angry’: Lorne Michaels clarifies his stance on Shane Gillis being fired from Saturday Night Live

In 2019, Saturday night live made headlines afterwards firing Shane Gillis before being able to go on stage. He was eventually let go after jokes he made on a podcast that included racial and homophobic slurs resurfaced and went viral. However, the option to let him go was not one SNL boss Lorne Michaels agreed and recently clarified his thoughts on the matter.

Ultimately, the call to fire Gillis came from NBC, not Michaels, and he wasn’t thrilled with the decision as he told the WSJ:

He said something stupid, but he flew off to the end of the world. he was angry I thought, “You haven’t seen what we’re going to do and what I’m going to try to get him out of, because I thought he was the real thing.”

History points to this SNL has handled his fair share of controversial comments. Citing polarizing hosts like Donald Trump and Andrew Dice Clay, Norm Macdonald’s OJ Simpson jokes, and a photo of the pope ripped by Sinéad O’Connor as a few examples, it’s clear that Michaels has held backlash before.

However, what happened with Gillis was a fire that could not be contained. Up to this point, SNL The leader made it clear that firing the comedian was not an option he agreed with:

This was very strong on the part of those in charge. And obviously I wasn’t on that side, but I understood.

In the end, the comedian and the show went their way. In later years, Gillis broke out as a stand-up comedian with his own special Beautiful dogs (which you can see with a Netflix subscription), and he hosted an episode of SNL Season 49 as issued in 2024 TV schedule. The WSJ story noted that when it came to this choice to invite back, Michaels “allowed that there was symbolism in his choice” to do so.

when Shane Gillis is back SNL 18 months after being fired for hosting, memorably saying during his monologue “I probably shouldn’t be up here” – he was compared to Norm Macdonald who, as I said, got into trouble for controversial jokes. He was fired from the show in 1998. Then, in 1999, he returned as host. So, in a way, the stand-up journey is similar to the SNL mainstay, showing that the show’s boss has had to deal with his fair share of controversy.

Now, with SNL Season 50 hosts and musical guest increasing alignment and Gillis’ latest standup special tires available on Netflix, one has to wonder if he’ll ever host again. Based on Michaels recent comments about not wanting to fire him in the first place and the fact that he’s already returned once, you never know what’s going to happen.

But for now, here’s what we know: Saturday Night Live’s Season 50 is airing right now and you can watch it on NBC or with a Peacock Subscription every Saturday at 11:30pm ET. We’ll also be sure to keep you posted on any updates on Gillis’ relationship with Michaels.

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