'Saturday Night Live' fires Shane Gillis
One of three new 'Saturday Night Live' cast members will not be working on the weekends at 30 Rock.
Shane Gillis joked that Donald Trump would be "the funniest" president "to see get shot" in his first return to stand-up after the comic was fired from "Saturday Night Live" earlier this week.
Gillis was booted from the NBC late-night staple after a YouTube video surfaced of him using a racial slur while discussing a Chinatown neighborhood with another comedian.
In addition to the jokes about President Trump, the 31-year-old comic addressed the backlash he's received since his joke came to light.
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"It's been weird," Gillis said during his 10-minute set at The Stand NYC comedy club in New York City on Wednesday night (via USA Today). "Twitter, obviously, has been nuts. You try to stay off it when the whole country hates you. That's not a fun feeling."
Axed "Saturday Night Live" cast member Shane Gillis, left, jokes that President Trump would be "the funniest" president "to see get shot." (Getty/AP)
He continued: "Everybody's like, 'You can't say (expletive) and not expect consequences.' I'm fine with the consequences – that's it, I'm not arguing. But I do want everyone to know that I have been reading every one of my death threats in an Asian accent."
Gillis then said that once he was labeled "a bad guy" people assumed he is "alt-right or something."
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"For real, though, I did not vote for Donald Trump," he said, while winking at the audience, reported USA Today. "Look at me: I didn't, but that was tough. His whole campaign was at me. 'Are you a fat idiot? Yeah, dude, what're we doing?'"
Gillis then said "Trump is funny" and admitted if the president were to come out on stage and roast him after his set "he'd bury me. He'd come out and be like, 'Fat. Loser. Fired.'"
That's when Gillis pivoted to his joke about Trump being shot in an attempt to prove to his audience he's not "too pro-Trump."
This combination of photos released by NBC shows, from left, Shane Gillis, Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman who will join the cast of "Saturday Night Live," premiering its 45th season on Sept. 28. Gillis will no longer join the cast. (NBC via AP)
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"I don't want you to think I'm too pro-Trump," Gillis shared. "I will say this: Of all the presidents I've been alive for, Trump would definitely be the funniest one to see get shot. Like, without a doubt, that'd be funny. I'm not asking for that; I don't want that to happen, but it would be funny to see. He'd be on stage talking (expletive), the shooter would be coming at him, and he'd be like, 'Sit down.' He'd definitely make a funny noise when he got hit. … It would be funny."
The White House did not immediately return Fox News' request for comment.
On Tuesday, NBC announced Gillis would not be on the new season of "SNL." "We were not aware of his prior remarks that have surfaced over the past few days. The language he used is offensive, hurtful and unacceptable. We are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard.”
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Gillis later issued his own statement on Twitter: "Of course I wanted an opportunity to prove myself at SNL, but I understand It would too much of a distraction. I respect the decision they made. I'm honestly grateful for the opportunity. I was always a mad tv guy anyway."
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