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When the comedian Shane Gillis was dropped from \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d<\/a> in 2019 just days after the announcement that he\u2019d been added to the Season 45 cast, he lost one of the most sought-after jobs in comedy. Immediately after his addition to the cast, multiple instances surfaced of him using language that the show called \u201coffensive, hurtful and unacceptable\u201d in a statement addressing his ouster.<\/p>\n Among the inflammatory language he\u2019d used, on his podcast and on others, was a slur to refer to Chinese people, along with a caricature accent, and a homophobic slur<\/a>, which he used to describe<\/a> the filmmaker Judd Apatow and the comedian Chris Gethard as well as the Democratic presidential candidates Andrew Yang and Senator Bernie Sanders (the latter two prefaced with the word \u201cJew\u201d). \u201cFat, ugly idiots promoting hate, that\u2019s what this is,\u201d he said, ribbing himself and those with whom he was talking.<\/p>\n Gillis could have become a pariah. Instead, on Saturday, he\u2019ll make his debut on NBC\u2019s storied Studio 8H stage, as a host.<\/p>\n Since his firing, Gillis\u2019s star has quickly ascended: His debut special<\/a>, released on YouTube in 2021, has amassed about 24 million views; and his podcast with Matt McCusker, \u201cMatt and Shane\u2019s Secret Podcast,\u201d on which some of the problematic statements were made, has the most subscribers of any podcast on Patreon<\/a> with more than 80,000 paying listeners, tens of thousands more than the next highest. He has also been touring rigorously, performing on comedy stages across the United States and the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n He reached new heights in September with the release of Netflix\u2019s \u201cBeautiful Dogs,\u201d which had a lengthy run on the streamer\u2019s Top 10 most popular shows list. In that special, he walked the line between satirizing conservatives and playing to them, according to The New York Times\u2019s comedy critic, Jason Zinoman, who described<\/a> its opening bit as \u201cdumb and smart, cocky and self-mocking, homophobic but relentlessly self-aware.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t be surprised if he becomes an arena act,\u201d Zinoman added.<\/p>\n A few weeks ago, Bud Light announced that it was partnering with Gillis. \u201cWelcome to the team,\u201d the brand posted<\/a> on Instagram along with a photo of the comedian. Bud Light has been scrambling to contain the fallout, which included plummeting sales<\/a>, from last year\u2019s right-wing backlash<\/a> to Dylan Mulvaney<\/a>, a transgender influencer, promoting the beer on Instagram.<\/p>\n Gillis\u2019s history of offensive language seemed to catch \u201cS.N.L.\u201d off guard at the time of his hiring. \u201cWe want \u2018S.N.L.\u2019 to have a variety of voices and points of view within the show, and we hired Shane on the strength of his talent as a comedian and his impressive audition for \u2018S.N.L.,\u2019\u201d a spokesperson said in a statement<\/a> on behalf of Lorne Michaels, the show\u2019s creator and longtime executive producer. \u201cWe are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard.\u201d<\/p>\n But in 2021 \u2014 on his first of many appearances<\/a> on the controversial<\/a> \u201cJoe Rogan Experience,\u201d Spotify\u2019s No. 1 podcast four years running \u2014 Gillis said he\u2019d told \u201cS.N.L.\u201d about the tone of his podcast. Michaels asked him, Gillis recalled, \u201cDo you have anything you want us to check out?\u201d Gillis replied that he had a podcast on which, \u201cI say like gay and retard a lot.\u201d According to Gillis, \u201cThey were like, \u2018Ah, that\u2019s fine, don\u2019t worry about it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Representatives for Gillis did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In the short window after his comments were brought to light but before his firing, Gillis, on social media, said: \u201cI\u2019m a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss,\u201d adding, \u201cI\u2019m happy to apologize to anyone who\u2019s actually offended by anything I\u2019ve said.\u201d<\/p>\n After his firing, he said: \u201cI respect the decision they made. I\u2019m honestly grateful for the opportunity. I was always a MadTV guy anyway,\u201d referring to Fox\u2019s rival sketch show<\/a> that originally ran from 1995 to 2009.<\/p>\n Gillis would have joined the \u201cS.N.L.\u201d cast alongside Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman. Yang was the show\u2019s first Chinese American cast member in its 50-year history and one of its first openly gay male comedians. He did not respond to a request for comment, and the \u201cS.N.L.\u201d cast has been largely silent on Gillis\u2019s earlier remarks and on his expected debut.<\/p>\n In 2020, Yang told The Times<\/a>, \u201cThe reason I didn\u2019t comment on it was because there was a sense of opposition being created between the two of us, right?\u201d he said. \u201cBut a lot of it was invented because it wasn\u2019t like he was making any comments about me specifically.\u201d<\/p>\n On Wednesday, \u201cS.N.L.\u201d teased the episode on YouTube<\/a>, posting a spoof of Gillis working on his monologue, with appearances from the cast members Sarah Sherman and Marcello Herna\u0301ndez.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n While Gillis\u2019s firing might be among the most unusual in \u201cS.N.L.\u201d history, in that he never appeared on the show, he is just one in a long list<\/a> of those who have been cut loose or forced out.<\/p>\n Most casualties \u2014 including Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Norm Macdonald<\/a>, Gilbert Gottfried<\/a>, Ann Risley, Robert Downey Jr., Joan Cusack, Chris Rock and Sarah Silverman \u2014 were the result of budget worries, infighting, executive turnover, creative differences or flagging ratings. Others\u2019 runs were marred by unfortunate mistakes: Jenny Slate, for example, accidentally used an expletive in her first sketch and was fired after one season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n