Saturday Night Live is moving right along in its current season and continues to bring in a variety of stars. Of course, Season 49 has featured a varied roster of hosts, from Bad Bunny and Timothée Chalamet to Jacob Elordi and Ayo Edebiri. It was recently confirmed that comedian Shane Gillis will be the next person to take the reins as host this year. Gillis was notably hired and fired by the program in 2019 after controversial comments he’d made on a podcast the year before surfaced. Given the situation, a fan compared it to the time that Norm Macdonald returned to SNL to host 18 months after his own firing.
For context, Norm Macdonald, who passed away at 61 in 2021, was fired from SNL in 1998 after a number of back-and-forths with execs. When MacDonald was removed from his post as Weekend Update host he contended that the powers that be took issue with certain jokes he’s told on air. However, NBC argued that the decision came down to a decline in ratings. This situation – along with a few others – eventually led to the star’s dismissal, though he returned to Studio 8H to host the show in fall of 1999.
The Dirty Work star’s monologue garnered a lot of attention, as he used the occasion to joke about his firing and tell his side of the story. Not only did he chastise management’s decision to let him go but he also reasoned that he’d been brought back to host because the series had gotten “really bad.” A portion of that monologue was shared on X by @Loughy_D in the aftermath of Shane Gillis being announced as host. You can listen to it down below:
Shane Gillis hosting SNL is reminiscent of when Norm Macdonald hosted 18 months after being fired… and in typical Norm fashion, he did this pic.twitter.com/CNrQh9zTr5February 4, 2024
Another user, @DugganSense, agreed with the sentiment that Shane Gillis’ situation mirrors that of Norm Macdonald (who dropped some great quotes over the years). They responded to the video by saying the following:
Immediately came to mind to me too. And Shane is definitely a Norm fan…
However, not everyone seems to agree with the sentiment that the situations are exactly alike. @HoagieBitingMan dropped some arguments as to why they believe the scenarios don’t match up:
Except Norm was fired [because] of a disgruntled executive after years of success on the show. Shane was un-hired and completely disrespected over some really tame jokes, and made a career off his ‘cancellation.’ He really shouldn't be hosting the show. It sends a terrible message.
Behind-The-Scenes Norm Macdonald SNL Stories, As Told By Norm Macdonald
Shane Gillis was hired as a featured player on Saturday Night Live in 2019 alongside Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang ahead of Season 45. Around that same time, the hiring of Gillis ignited backlash due to remarks he made on his online show Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast in 2018. In a variety of clips, Gillis and co-host Matt McCusker made jokes about Asian individuals and used an ethnic slur. Resurfaced footage from the series also showed the pair making quips about the LGBTQ+ community. At the time, Gillis responded to the remarks (as reported by Vanity Fair), admitting that he’s had his share of misses as a comedian and seeks to push boundaries. He also said that he was “happy to apologize to anyone who's actually offended by anything I've said.” Additionally, the comedian later stated that the comments he made were taken out of context.
Though he was fired a short while later, Shane Gillis has since found success in his stand-up career. In 2023, Gillis’ Netflix special, Beautiful Dogs, drew considerable buzz on the streamer. As of right now, the comparisons between his and Norm Macdonald’s firings continue. SNL has also not spoken out on the decision to bring Gillis on as a host.
His episode of Saturday Night Live will air on February 24 at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC as part of the 2024 TV schedule. The installment will subsequently be available to stream with a Peacock subscription.
