The internet was left scratching its head after Saturday Night Live announced its next host.

The longstanding late-night comedy sketch series recently revealed that comedian Shane Gillis would be hosting on February 24 with rapper 21 Savage as the musical guest. Nothing out of the ordinary for an advanced hosting notice, with the exception of the fact that Gillis was once hired by SNL and then fired for a slew of racist, homophobic, and ableist remarks.

Gillis, Chloe Fineman, and Bowen Yang (the cast’s first gay full-time member of East Asian descent) were all expected to join SNL‘s main cast in 2019, until Gillis’ remarks resurfaced online. Gillis used racial, ableist, and homophobic slurs and made misognystic and Islamaphobic comments on his podcast Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 06: Shane Gillis attends the 17th Annual Stand Up For Heroes Benefit presented by Bob Woodruff Foundation and NY Comedy Festival at David Geffen Hall on November 06, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Bob Woodruff Foundation)

SNL issued a statement a week after the comments resurfaced, revealing that Gillis would not be joining the cast and apologized stating “our vetting process was not up to our standard.” Gillis issued his own statement saying that he respected the decision and was a “Mad TV guy anyway.”

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Since then, Gillis has since had a recurring role on the Peacock show Bupkis (alongside SNL alum Pete Davidson), released two stand up comedy specials (one with YouTube and another with Netflix), and has made controversial appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Did we mention he’s now partnered with Bud Light after their partnership (of lack thereof) with trans content creator Dylan Mulvaney?

So now why is he hosting SNL, especially when there are several queer cast members?

SNL current queer cast includes, Yang, Punkie Johnson (the first out Black lesbian cast member), and Molly Kearney (the first out nonbinary cast member) and the show’s material has become noticeably queerer.

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However, that unfortunately comes with bringing on some problematic guests. Recently, transphobic comedian Dave Chappelle joined the cast’s closing remarks onstage during the Dakota Johnson-hosted episode, a moment in which cast member Yang was noticeably upset by. Not to mention, controversial Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley joined the Ayo Edebiri-hosted episode during the show’s cold open.

Additionally, Gillis wouldn’t be the first fired cast member to return as Norm MacDonald (an SNL cast member from 1993-1998) was let go from the series in 1998 and returned to host multiple times afterwards. So Gillis’ hosting announcement isn’t unprecedented, but it is the final straw for many SNL fans.

Guess we’ll see how everything unfolds on February 24.

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