Why was Shane Gillis fired from SNL? Comedian comments on Trump's mental health

Shane Gillis, who was fired from Saturday Night Live as a cast member in 2019, recently spoke about U.S. President Donald Trump's mental health, claiming he "just seems a little slower than usual."

When Gillis was announced as a new cast member for SNL's Season 45 in 2019, a clip from a year ago resurfaced online where he could be heard using an Anti-Asian slur.

The now-deleted video was from September 2018 from Gillis' podcast with comedian Matt McCusker, Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast, where Gillis can be heard saying:

"Chinatown's f****** nuts," adding, "Let the f****** ch**** live there."

The clip immediately sparked outrage among viewers, which reportedly prompted Saturday Night Live to fire him before his first appearance.

Speaking about Gill's departure, a representative for SNL creator Lorne Michaels, in a statement, said:

"After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL. We want SNL 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 SNL."

They continued:

"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."

The 37-year-old also released a statement addressing his firing from the show, claiming he "respect[s] the decision they made. I’m honestly grateful for the opportunity. I was always a mad tv guy anyway."

"It feels ridiculous for comedians to be making serious public statements but here we are. I’m a comedian who was funny enough to get SNL. That can’t be taken away. Of course I wanted an opportunity to prove myself at SNL, but I understand it would be too much of a distraction," said Gillis.

He also released an apology for his anti-asian remarks, admitting he is 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," said Gillis at the time.

Gillis's remarks about Chinese people on the aforementioned podcast also led to other clips surfacing online.

According to People Magazine, these additional clips reported that his comments were not only Anti-Asian but also Islamophobic, misogynistic, as well as homophobic and ableist slurs.

Shane Gillis's remarks on Donald Trump's mental health

Speaking about U.S. President Donald Trump's mental health on the November 20, 2025, episode of Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast, Shane Gillis's co-host, Matt McCusker, asked whether he believes the POTUS is "getting dementia."

In response, Shane said:

"I mean, I don’t know. He just seems a little slower than usual."

McCusker then joked that there's "speculation that T-Dog might be rocking [Joe] Biden brains," to which Gillis said that "He’s definitely not at Biden brains yet. But he’s circling the drain," before pointing at a recent incident where the POTUS called a female reporter "quite piggy" when she asked him about Jeffrey Epstein.

"'Quiet, piggy' was f---ing crazy. It's pretty wild. I just can’t think of how embarrassed that lady must have been," said Gillis.

The full conversation between Shane Gillis and Matt McCusker is available on their official YouTube channel.