Seven years after being fired from the show over offensive jokes, Shane Gillis is back on “Saturday Night Live” for his third hosting gig.
It took Gillis just two minutes into his last appearance on the show to make the audience squirm. Now he’s returning for a third time, and “SNL” seems happy to play up his potential to offend — if that’s what it takes to get viewers to tune in.
“I hope I can say those words on TV,” Gillis said ahead of his return.
Gillis joked on his podcast about throwing Diddy a party when the rapper gets out of prison, promising to have his “finest men lined up” for the occasion. The comedian seems as loose and on-point as ever — loose enough to suggest he’s going to throw Diddy a release party. And “SNL” is playing up the possibility of what could transpire during Gillis’ third hosting appearance in as many years.
The show’s promos make a joke of Gillis’ reputation for causing trouble.
“I know what you did last time you was here,” cast member Kenan Thompson warned him. “Don’t be touching none of my stuff this week.”
“Kenan, I told you, I thought the cantaloupe was for everybody,” Gillis responded.
It’s a pretty tame exchange, especially compared with the material Gillis has delivered on the show before. But it sure is funny seeing “SNL” celebrate the same fearless attitude that got the comic fired before he ever set foot on its stage in 2019.
In 2025, Gillis broke the ice with his monologue by talking about how much “fun” life under President Trump was, poking fun at him before pivoting to remarks about former President Biden’s face going “dead” whenever he stopped talking. Soon, Gillis was asking the audience questions like, “Have you ever had sex with a black guy before?”
Gillis’ initial return to the network in 2024 — after being fired five years earlier — marked a huge turnaround for non-woke comedy. It felt like Gillis had broken the sound barrier when he used words like “gay” and “retarded” on a very liberal, and very live, network broadcast.
“I hope I can say those words on TV,” Gillis said at the time. “It’s really well lit in here, and I can see you guys not enjoying it.”
Gillis later revealed that not everyone at “SNL” knew what he was going to say in the monologue. Even executive producer Lorne Michaels didn’t know the particulars.
“He was very supportive, because I kept telling him what I was going to say, and he was literally just like, ‘Don’t tell me, just do it.’”
This time around, everyone seemingly knows what to expect. That might take some of the wind out of Gillis’ sails, but perhaps Michaels doesn’t mind. Gillis has become a much bigger star since “SNL” let him go, with a hit Netflix series, a wildly popular podcast, and a stand-up career that recently took him to a sold-out football stadium.
“SNL” once decided it could do without him. Now it’s inviting him back for the third time.
Moreover, the previews released by NBC only reinforce how far Gillis has moved beyond what the sketch show has to offer. The cast members hardly seem in his league, comedy-wise.
Any given portion of Gillis’ podcast with comic pal Matt McCusker is infinitely more entertaining, even when mustache trimming and “TGIF” sitcoms are the topic of discussion.
Gillis is still likely to offend on Saturday. One simple riff from his podcast would have “SNL” audience members melting in disbelief — especially when he tells guests that any time there’s “nothing to talk about,” he simply starts accusing a member of the production team of being gay.
And if he does manage to offend someone, “SNL” can hardly complain. This time, it’s practically advertising the possibility.
