At ‘SNL,’ Bigots Can’t Join the Cast, but They’re Always Welcome To Host

On February 3, SNL welcomed America’s (and Ireland’s) sweetheart Ayo Edebiri as host of a show that not only gave Republican Nikki Haley a platform, but also used Edebiri to legitimize her. If that wasn’t bad enough, SNL announced the host of its next live show: Shane Gillis.

Back in 2019, Shane Gillis was among the handful of new cast members joining Saturday Night Live as featured players. Before he appeared in a single episode of the prolific sketch-comedy series, Gillis was fired by SNL when racist, homophobic, and misogynistic comments he made in 2018 resurfaced. The comments could be heard in multiple episodes of a podcast Gillis co-hosted with fellow comic Matt McCusker, in which Gillis notably mocked Chinese people and had a habit of making offensive jokes about the Asian community, complete with exaggerated accents. Gillis, it should be noted, was set to debut alongside Bowen Yang, whom SNL promoted from writing staff to featured player, making him the first performer of East Asian descent on the cast.

Although the comments were taken from his podcast—which he attempted to scrape from the internet when he was hired at SNL—Gillis, who predictably describes himself as a “comedian who pushes boundaries,” is well-known for bigoted material. In fact, on the heels of Gillis’ firing and a tepid apology from Lorne Michaels, it was reported that Gillis was actually hired because of his offensive material; SNL was hoping to cater to its conservative viewers.

Now it seems that SNL is hoping to capture their attention again by welcoming Gillis to host the February 24 episode, nearly five years after he was fired. If Gillis’ bigotry makes him unworthy of joining the cast, why is it okay for him to appear on SNL at all? It doesn’t seem like Gillis has anything specific to promote—his last special was released on Netflix in September 2023—so why even bother?

SNL has a bad habit of trying to woo right-wing TV owners. The series infamously platformed Donald Trump in 2015, lending credibility to his presidential bid. When self-described TERF Dave Chappelle hosted SNL in 2022, several members of the writing staff reportedly sat out the episode over the comedian’s relentless transphobic and homophobic remarks (Chappelle’s reps denied this); Yang, Sarah Sherman, and Molly Kearney (who identifies as nonbinary) appeared in the episode, but skipped the “goodnight” segment at the end.

Which brings us to this week. During the February 3 episode, hosted by Ayo Edebiri with musical guest Jennifer Lopez, SNL surprised viewers with a cameo from Nikki Haley during the cold open. The Republican presidential hopeful appeared opposite James Austin Johnson’s Trump in a parody of a CNN town hall debate. As our own Chelsea Steiner explains in her coverage of the incident:

The sketch ended with host Ayo Edebiri asking Haley, “I was just curious, what would you say was the main cause of the Civil War, and do you think it starts with an ‘s’ and ends with a ‘lavery’?” referencing Haley’s disastrous answer to the same question in December. Haley responds, “Yup, I probably should’ve said that the first time,” before shouting “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”

Not only did SNL platform Haley, it also enlisted Edebiri—a Black woman—to legitimize and rehabilitate the politician for racist comments she made (and will probably make again, to be honest). And what Haley did on SNL could hardly be described as anything remotely resembling a demonstration of accountability and remorse. I’ll throw it back to my colleague Chelsea:

… why does SNL continue to platform harmful bigots in an attempt at both sides-ism? Yes, Haley is the last woman standing before Trump’s all-but-assured nomination. But while she’s inarguably better than Trump (the bar is subterranean), Haley is still a transphobic, racist piece of garbage.

We can probably expect more of the same when Gillis hosts SNL in a few weeks: a reference to his swift hiring and firing, parading out token cast members in the promos and the opening monologue to make left-leaning viewers feel comfortable laughing at his jokes, a self-aware short with Please Don’t Destroy.

What makes SNL‘s appeals to conservative viewers most frustrating is that it does so under the tired pretense that comedians like Gillis often employ to excuse their bigotry—that of being an equal opportunity offender—but refuses to actually engage with its right-wing guests on “difficult” topics, ostensibly to avoid offending them at all. Alienating the majority of viewers so as not to offend a vocal and very bigoted minority isn’t ironic; it is deranged and deeply stupid.

(featured image: Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images for Bob Woodruff Foundation)