SNL star Shane Gillis' firing criticised as 'cancel culture' by Bill Burr and Jim Jeffries

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Comedians Bill Burr and Jim Jeffries have criticised Saturday Night Live‘s decision to fire new hire Shane Gillis for making racist and homophobic comments in the past. None of them care; all they want to do is get people in trouble.” Burr continued: “I think if you go back 15 years in someone life, someone should go back 15 years in your life – basically, it’s, ‘Hey we went back and found out he's a human being, he f***ed up.’” Jeffries, who was born in Australia, highlighted how positive it was that SNL had just cast Bowen Yang, its first Asian comedian, adding: “11 years ago when I came to America, I asked to audition and the response I got was, ‘He’s not American.’” Former SNL star Spade weighed in on the debate. He said: “I think when I was younger on SNL, when you got hired the first move wasn’t to rifle through your past to make sure you got fired right away.” Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Gillis responded to the news of his sacking on his Twitter account, writing: “I’m a comedian who was funny enough to get SNL.