'SNL' fires new cast member Shane Gillis on heels of racial slur

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It may be one of the shortest cast stints in the 45 seasons NBC's "Saturday Night Live" has been on the air.

Stand-up comic Shane Gillis, who was announced as one of the new cast members of the late-night comedy show, just four days ago, has been dumped from the cast before ever setting foot on the famed Studio 8-H set. Gillis drew social media fire just hours after comments using racial and homophobic slurs were discovered on a since-deleted video from 2018 on a YouTube channel called "Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast."

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 21: Shane Gillis performs onstage at the 2019 Clusterfest on June 21, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Clusterfest)

"After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL," a show spokesperson was quoted in both Deadline Hollywood and The Hollywood Reporter on behalf of executive producer Lorne Michaels saying: "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 comedian and his impressive audition for SNL.

CANNES, FRANCE - JUNE 21: Creator and Executive Producer, 'Saturday Night Live' Lorne Michaels speaks on stage during the NBC session at the Cannes Lions 2019 : Day Five on June 21, 2019 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Richard Bord/Getty Images for Cann

"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.”
- Lorne Michaels/Saturday Night Live

Gillis took to Twitter after the comments were made public at an attempt at self-defense, writing, in part, that "intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks."

A native of Pennsylvania, Gillis in the last year was touted as a young comic to watch both by Comedy Central and at the famed "Just for Laughs" comedy festival in Montreal.

SNL returns Sept. 28 for its 45th season with host Woody Harrelson and musical guest Billie Eilish.

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