SNL Boss Lorne Michaels Admits He Was ‘Angry’ NBC Decided to Fire Shane Gillis: ‘I Was Not on That Side’

Magazine, SNL creator Lorne Michaels opens up about the controversial hiring and firing of stand-up comedian Shane Gillis, who was axed just days after being announced as a new SNL cast member in 2019 after past racist and homophobic comments he made came to light.

But he stayed in touch with Gillis, he says, and the stand-up comic even returned to host SNL in February.

Michaels still thinks the controversy over Gillis was overblown: “He said something stupid, but it got blown up into the end of the world.”