Shane Gillis turns down 'Saturday Night Live' Trump role — five years after the show fired him



"Saturday Night Live" recently wooed comic Shane Gillis to portray former President Donald Trump on the late-night institution's 50th season — but this time around it was the short-lived cast member's turn to say "You're fired!"

Gillis revealed his former employer's offer — as well as his refusal thereof — during a recent appearance at the Skankfest comedy festival in Las Vegas.

In the last few years, Gillis has become known for his Trump impression. Last July he showed it off on the wildly popular comedy podcast "Kill Tony"; that episode garnered more than 20 million views on YouTube.

Comedian Luis J. Gomez told the crowd, “Nobody thought [Gillis] was coming to this festival this year.”

Gillis replied, "Explain why."

Gomez answered, “Because he was offered to play Trump on the entire season of 'SNL' and he turned it down to f***ing be here, folks.”

Gillis added, “They said, ‘Are you serious? You’re going to say no?’"

Gillis joked that he told "SNL" executive producer Lorne Michaels that he had to be at the comedy festival.

Almost exactly five years ago, Gillis scored his first "SNL" job offer — which was promptly rescinded just four days later after reports that Gillis had made "racist" remarks during a September 2018 episode of his "Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast."

At the time, Gillis apologized to "anyone who was actually offended" and said, "I respect the decision they made. I am honestly grateful for the opportunity."

Gillis was quick to rebound from his public "SNL" dismissal. Along with fellow comedian John McKeever, he created the sketch show "Gilly and Keeves," which racked up tens of millions of views and featured a sketch with Gillis portraying Trump attending a speed-dating event.

In September 2021, Gillis released his very first comedy special – "Shane Gillis Live in Austin." The special has more than 33 million views on YouTube.

In 2023, Gillis released his "Beautiful Dogs" special on Netflix, which introduced his impressive Trump impression to the masses. The special has a 92% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was the third-most-watched comedy special on Netflix.

In February, Gillis got a deal with Netflix for six episodes of his self-funded comedy series titled "Tires." "Tires" boasts an 87% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and was the top show on Netflix for a couple of days. In May, Netflix announced it would renew "Tires" for a second season and air another Gillis comedy special.

In the last few years, Gillis has become known for his Trump impression. Last July he showed it off on the wildly popular comedy podcast "Kill Tony"; that episode garnered more than 20 million views on YouTube.

Gillis finally made it to the "SNL" stage last February, when he hosted the show — and performed as the 45th president hawking his limited-edition sneakers.

In lieu of Gillis, "SNL" has comedic actor James Austin Johnson playing Trump this season. Alec Baldwin previously played the role.

In September, Michaels said there was a need to "reinvent" Trump because of his performance at the presidential debate.

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Netflix picks up Shane Gillis' self-funded, NSFW sitcom 'Tires' following late-night comeback

Netflix picks up Shane Gillis' self-funded, NSFW sitcom 'Tires' following late-night comeback



Shane Gillis continued his historic rise as Netflix announced it would both pick up his independent, scripted comedy series as well as host a stand-up comedy special.

Gillis has made leaps and bounds in just a few short weeks, signing an endorsement deal with Bud Light and making a return to "Saturday Night Live."

Rounding out a spectacular month, Netflix picked up Gillis' self-funded project "Tires," which has Gillis starring in, producing, and writing, Barstool Sports reported.

The completely un-woke sitcom features the character Will, who is a "nervous and unqualified heir to an auto repair chain," played by comedian Steven Gerben. The character is attempting to turn his father's repair shop around despite "constant torture from his cousin and now employee, Shane."

The six-episode show is produced by Gillis and his long-time comedy partner John McKeever, who operates Dad Sick Productions with Gillis. The duo has racked up over 80 million views on their YouTube channel, "Gilly and Keeves," which sports just 20 videos.

Their comedic sketches under the same name have averaged 4 million views per video in just a couple short years.

Netflix also decided to do another stand-up special with Gillis after a successful inaugural experience with the special "Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs" in 2023. That special was directed by McKeever, Variety noted, and stayed in Netflix's top 10 for multiple weeks.

That followed Gillis' insanely successful YouTube release of his 2021 special, "Shane Gillis Live in Austin," which has over 24 million views.

As Bud Light has attempted to make a marketing splash following a year of record losses, the beer brand reached out to its most loyal comedian in Gillis for a "March Madness" marketing campaign in reference to NCAA basketball.

Then, Gillis returned to his former place of work at SNL, from which he was previously fired in 2019. Gillis' monologue caused ripples in leftist media, which was offended by his use of the words "gay" and "retarded" and jokes about his family that talked about Down syndrome.

Sketches included a commercial with a gun-toting, insurance agent ostrich as well as a performance as his fan-favorite impression of Donald Trump. The sketch had Gillis in a fake movie trailer that poked fun at Trump's recent release of exclusive sneakers.

NEW: Comedian Shane Gillis hosted SNL last night and performed a skit featuring Donald Trump\u2019s new sneakers.\n\nThe end of the skit featured \u2018Air Bidens\u2019 which makes people fall over when they wear them.\n\nIn 2019, Gillis was fired from Saturday Night Live because of his \u201cracist and\u2026
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