SNL Fires Comic over Chinese Jokes

National Review ^ | 9/16/2019 | Kyle SMith

[simpson96]

Shane Gillis is a 31-year-old comic from Philadelphia. I’d never heard of him till last week, when Saturday Night Live (which I hardly ever watch anyway) announced that he would be among the new members of its cast this fall. Within hours of his hiring, social-media users posted clips of Gillis recording a podcast in which he did some bits on Chinese people that indulged in some woeful stereotyping, mocked Chinese speech and used the word “chinks.” Of Chinatown, he said, “Let the f***ing chinks live there.” In other bits on Matt & Shane’s Secret Podcast, Gillis used the word “gay” in a derogatory way, e.g. “that’s so gay.” Gillis has also made some other questionable remarks. We don’t use his kind of language around here but you can read more here.

Last week a lot of journalists, activists, and lower-tier comedy professionals joined a Twitter mob calling for Gillis to be fired. One of them was Jimmy O. Yang, which surprised me because Yang is best known for his character on HBO’s Silicon Valley, in which Yang, through his character Jian-Yiang, does an absolute merciless stereotypical Chinese accent. (If you don’t know his other work, you may be unaware that Yang normally speaks without a foreign accent.)(snip)

Gillis’s bit was pretty awful. He shouldn’t have said what he said. It also wasn’t funny. On the other hand, firing someone is a drastic step, particularly for someone at this stage of his career. Gillis, had he made it to the SNL cast, would have overnight become one of the most recognizable comics in America. As it is he may find himself having difficulty getting work in the future. (Indeed one or two comedy clubs have reportedly already done so, finding his material offensive.)

[Kid Shelleen]

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