'SNL' Creator Lorne Michaels Backtracks on Firing of Shane Gillis, Calls It an 'Overraction'

Lorne Michaels has finally opened up about the firing of comedian Shane Gillis from Saturday Night Live, in what he now describes as an "overreaction."

Gillis was announced as a new featured cast member alongside Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman in 2019, only for the long-running sketch comedy series to reverse course just days later over resurfaced podcast jokes perceived to have been racist and homophobic. However, like many comedians accused of pushing the envelope too far, the 36-year-old's career has continued to flourish, and earlier this year he graced the stage of Studio 8H for the first time to host the show.

"We had a bad time when I added Shane Gillis to the cast," Michaels told The Hollywood Reporter in a wide-ranging interview last week, in response to a question about political correctness. "He got beat up for things that he’d done years earlier and the overreaction to it was so stunning—and the velocity of it was 200 Asian companies were going to boycott the show."

In a 2018 episode of Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast, Gillis had mocked East Asian accents and used an ethnic slur for Chinese people during a bit. However, he later argued that while they did indeed seem regrettable when taken out of context, the intent had been misunderstood.

"It became a scandal and I go, 'No, no, he’s just starting and he’s really funny and you don’t know how we’re going to use him,'" Michaels continued. "And when he came back to the show last year [to host], we saw, 'Oh right, he’s really talented, and he would’ve been really good for us.' Now, his life turned out well without SNL, but my point with it is everything became way too serious. It was like a mania."

"And the velocity of cancellation—and lots of people deserved to not be liked—it just became not quite the Reign of Terror, but it was like you’re judging everybody on every position they have on every issue as opposed to, 'Are they any good at the thing they do?'" the 79-year-old added. "I do think that period is winding down and, I believe, the people who do awful things will still be punished."

Gillis addressed the initial backlash in a since-removed social media post, calling himself "a comedian who pushes boundaries."

"If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you’re going to find a lot of bad misses, said at the time. "I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve said. My intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks."

Last year, Gillis released his first Netflix comedy special, Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs. His scripted workplace comedy Tires also premiered on the streamer back in May, which was quickly picked up for a second season.