Lorne Michaels has opened up, again, about the decision to fire Shane Gillis from Saturday Night Live before he’d ever stepped on the Studio 8H stage.
Gillis was fired in September 2019, ahead of Season 45 of the long-running show.
At the time, it appeared to be a decision by creator Michaels, but in a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, the Canadian said it was NBC’s call.
“That was very strong from the people in charge. And obviously I was not on that side, but I understood it,” Michaels told the newspaper.
Gillis never made it to the SNL cast after online comments surfaced where he used a racial slur against Asians. In a statement at the time, Michaels, via a spokesperson said “after talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL”.
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Three months later, then NBC boss Paul Telegdy talked about the decision. “How quickly Lorne acted and subsequently what happened is a testament to how we act as a company,” he said at the TCA press tour. “We acted fast, Lorne did the right thing, going forward we think we will rightly be accountable.”
Gillis has gone on to have a promising career, launching a number of stand-up specials including Beautiful Dogs on Netflix, as well as sitcom Tires on the streamer, which has been renewed for a second season.
He also went on to have the last laugh, appearing as a host on SNL in February, where he joked about his firing.
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