As Shane Gillis makes another return to Studio 8H this weekend, speculation abounds once again about his 2019 ousting from Saturday Night Live.
After a background actor from the NBC sketch comedy show accused cast member Bowen Yang of getting Gillis fired, the four-time Emmy nominee responded to the allegation in the comments section of an Instagram post.
“Can we acknowledge that Bowen Yang bitched him off the show- and he’s the bigger man to come host after being unfairly ditched bc of a whiny queen,” comedian Michelle Best commented video from the show. “SNL fired him as a hater. He’s not. He’s very kind and has smart humor and stands up to bullying. Good for him!”
“Didn’t do any of this but I wrote the sketch you were a background actor in,” wrote Yang in response with a smiley face.
Best recently noted that she’s “been cut from more sketches than I’ve made it into” in a post marking SNL‘s 50th anniversary.
Gillis was announced as a featured cast member on SNL in 2019, along with Yang and Chloe Fineman. He was removed from the cast shortly afterward when his past anti-Chinese and anti-gay jokes resurfaced.
In October, creator Lorne Michaels told the Wall Street Journal that Gillis’ termination was NBC’s decision. “That was very strong from the people in charge. And obviously I was not on that side, but I understood it,” he said.
After making his SNL hosting debut last February, Gillis returns this weekend with musical guest Tate McRae.