For a group of entertainment producers who kill to come off as condescendingly woke, Saturday Night Live showrunners look super inept for hiring an apparent racist as one of their new cast members. One of the sketch comedy’s new talents has been labeled a racist by CNN journalists for making fun of Chinese people in 2018. SNL is in an even deeper pickle because another new cast member for the upcoming season is actually Chinese.
Poor SNL. If only outraged libs could cut you a break because you’ve been so anti-Trump. Alas, even if you did write "Mueller, All I Want for Christmas is You,” there’s no escape from #cancelculture.
Shane Gillis, the man who just may be fired before he even starts his new job, (never underestimate Twitter warriors, they are getting quite good at this boycott stuff) committed a big no-no during a 2018 episode of “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast.” The comedian and his friend devoted a portion of the discussion to Asian people, mostly Chinese, poking fun at them and making fun of Chinese stereotypes one would find all over “Chinatown,” for example.
CNN.com was particularly annoyed by the fact that both Shane and Matt called Chinatown “fucking nuts,” and dismissed that community, adding “let the fucking chinks live there.” Yeah the words were definitely insensitive but we’re more curious about who jumped out of their seat to get him banned before he could even make his debut. Someone very vigilant no doubt.
The backlash against Gillis was so swift that on the same night his SNL announcement was made, he posted an apology on Twitter for his Chinese slurs. In his statement Gillis defended himself as a “comedian who pushes boundaries” though he “sometimes” misses the mark. He wrote, “My intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks.”
“I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve said,” he also mentioned. Hey careful, man. Please keep your apology inclusive to all.
It’s unfortunate (though a tad funny) that one of the other two new SNL hires is actually Chinese. CNN.com wrote that new cast member, Bowen Yang, “is a child of Chinese immigrants.” Indiewire added that Yang is “also openly gay, making him only the third out gay male cast member in the show’s history.” We’ll have to wait and see Bowen’s viewpoint on the whole thing, but rest assured keyboard warriors are already outraged for him.
CNN failed to receive comment from NBC over the debacle, so they made sure to stay annoyed on behalf of everyone. CNN opinion writer Jeff Yang tweeted about the story writing, “Yeah if you want to know what being a person of color is like, it’s literally that for every Bowen Yang-shaped step you take forward, you also take one racist-ass Shane Gillis-shaped step back.”
Yeah, how could SNL be so stupid? If they went woker and hired a trans Samoan amputee with two dads, this wouldn’t have happened.
