New SNL star Shane Gillis responds to racism controversy by offering to apologize "to anyone who's actually offended"

People

Gillis, who was found to have made a number of racist and homophobic remarks, tweeted a statement Thursday night, saying: “I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss. If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you’re going to find a lot of bad misses. I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve said. My intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks.” Neither NBC nor SNL has responded to the standup comedian's controversy, which left him trending on Twitter Thursday night. The Huffington Post called his response "barely" an apology, while The A.V. Club said he opted to go for "the ever-crappy 'sorry you're sorry approach.'" Gillis' offensive comments and his response prompted longtime SNL critic and former Not Ready for Primetime SNL Podcast co-host Mike Ryan to tweet that he should be fired: "I started covering SNL professionally in 2010 and I’ve had a strict rule I NEVER comment publicly about cast members’ future employment status because it didn’t seem fair," Ryan tweeted. "But Shane Gillis is now the exception. Completely unacceptable and he needs to be dismissed immediately." Meanwhile, The Interrobang's Debra Kessler defended Gillis, writing: "He’s a great comic. He’s been vetted by every part of the industry that vets who is up and coming. Comedy Central (he was picked for their Up Next comedians to watch), Just for Laughs (he was one of their new faces this year), Lorne Michaels, and other comedians (51 Comedians Tell Us Who Will Be the Next Big Thing in 2019). That says a lot. Comedy does not 'vet' its up-and-comers by scouring their history, searching deleted recordings and doing detective work to find out if they’ve ever said anything f*cked up. If they did, your comedy stages would be empty."