SNL Boss Lorne Michaels Admits He Was ‘Angry’ NBC Decided to Fire Shane Gillis: ‘I Was Not on That Side’
Saturday Night Live’s head honcho is still fuming about a cast change he had to make years ago.
In a new interview with WSJ. Magazine, SNL creator Lorne Michaels opens up about the controversial hiring and firing of stand-up comedian Shane Gillis, who was axed just days after being announced as a new SNL cast member in 2019 after past racist and homophobic comments he made came to light.
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Michaels still thinks the controversy over Gillis was overblown: “He said something stupid, but it got blown up into the end of the world.” Michaels also admits, “I was angry. I thought, you haven’t seen what we’re going to do, and what I’m going to try to bring out in him, because I thought he was the real thing.”
NBC ultimately made the call to fire Gillis over Michaels’ objections, the longtime producer reveals: “That was very strong from the people in charge. And obviously I was not on that side, but I understood it.” But he stayed in touch with Gillis, he says, and the stand-up comic even returned to host SNL in February. Earlier this month, Gillis claimed that he was offered the chance to come back to SNL and play presidential contender Donald Trump this season, but that he declined the offer.
Do you think Gillis would’ve made SNL better as a cast member? Give us your take in the comments.
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