U.S

Shane Gillis, Or Who Knew Being A Racist Tool Would Be A Great Career Path?

Details: By Rick Ellis; Sep 14; 14 September 2024

A version of this piece originally ran in my Too Much TV newsletter.

One of the first things you learn when you start covering Hollywood is that if you can make a company money, they will put up a lot of behavior from you that would get the average intern fired almost instantly.

I've written in the past about the unsettling growth of racist, right-wing adjacent comedians who have come to dominate a sizeable segment of the stand-up industry. Because of the success of Joe Rogan and his Austin-based Scooby Gang, as well as the popularity of a number of podcasts and other alternative media, these comics can make a lot of money spouting stuff that used to be considered fringe beliefs.

And because they make the clubs money when they're booked and streamers and networks money when they perform, everyone in a position of power is happy to just pretend it's all a good-natured laugh.

Shane Gillis isn't the most racist tool in modern American comedy, but he might be the person who has most managed to separate his more commercial works from his podcast rantings. He was fired from Saturday Night Live in 2019 for making racist comments on several podcasts:

In one “A Fair One” segment, Gillis uses the n-word, ostensibly quoting his father’s nickname for a childhood prank: “[n-word]-knocking.”

In another, taking a cue from a racist caller, he describes comedian Ian Fidance, a frequent “A Fair One” guest, as “a k—-faced bitch.”

In a third, he performs a crude impression of someone with Down syndrome before telling his co-host and guest that their “hook noses” make them look Jewish. Later, he expresses skepticism of the idea that some homophobes are in the closet. “I hate Black people; I’m not Black. I hate Jews; not a f— Jew bone in my body.”

In a fourth, he complains about the “CNN Jew s—” playing on the studio’s television, asking that it be changed to Fox News.

In a fifth, he praises his co-host’s “Black voices” before performing his own racist caricature. Then he effuses over the founder of the Proud Boys. “I’ve watched Gavin McInnes videos and been like, ‘Hell yeah, dude,’” he says. “I’ve gotten drunk and watched f—ing Gavin McInnes, like, highlight reels of him debating people, which he f— crushes people. He crushes.”

Saturday Night Live is an institution at NBC and Lorne Michaels could shoot someone in the hallways of 30 Rock and would still have a job.

But last season SNL brought Gillis back to host an episode, a move that Gillis has described triumphantly in interviews as Lorne Michaels backing down because he brings an audience with him. That's the same rationale that Netflix uses to explain why they picked up a new stand-up special from Gillis, as well as a self-financed comedy series that has been renewed for a second season.

Every time Gillis is hired somewhere, executives explain that not only is successful, but his past comments have been overblown and that he has "reflected on his actions and grown as a person."

That explanation might come as a surprise to anyone who listened to any of his recent podcast appearances, including on the most recent episode of the Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast, which came out on Friday:

Gillis: Gender affirming care for illegal immigrants is so fucking crazy.

Matt McCusker: Yo, that was so funny.

Bill McCusker: Give to a fucking Juan or some shit.

Gillis: That when he brought it up, people are laughing at him. They're like, what a fucking idiot. It's like, no, that's real.

Bill McCusker: That's what they do. They invert the truth.

Gillis: "It's all good. Everything's fine."

Matt McCusker: Imagine being a stoic Mexican man, dude. You're like five-five, stoic as hell—

Bill McCusker: Dude, I've seen one before.

Matt McCusker: —and you get into this country thinking you're going to live your dreams and they take you in the room and say, "Bro, you're getting tits and a fucking pussy."

Gillis: Yo, you don't think the lads—the lads—some of those lads would be like, "Si, bueno.”

Bill McCusker: When I used to go to the dump, I saw that shit. There was one Mexican dude with monster tits and they would unload the truck next to me.

Gillis: Wait, you saw Kamala's Frankenstein? You saw Kamala's work?

Bill McCusker: Yes. Literally. I'm not kidding. There was one that [Effecting a Mexican accent] transiti-owned and fucking—

Gillis: [Laughing] "Transiti-owned."

Bill McCusker: Dude, it was wild. I would look over and—

Matt McCusker: Where was he again? He was at a trash dump?

Bill McCusker: He was at a trash dump, yeah. Like just bolt-ons, not even trying to get natural looking tits. They were just fucking fake.

Gillis: You saw one of Kamala's abominations.

Bill McCusker: Yes. Yes. One of her misfit toys.

Yeah, it totally sounds as if Gillis is a changed man.

I'm not arguing that any of these racist chuckleheads should be fired or even lose work. But I would like for the media companies, comedy festivals and other organizations that employ them to simply say "we're willing to overlook these comments because it makes us money."