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Almost exactly five years ago, Gillis scored his first "SNL" job offer — which was promptly rescinded just four days later after reports that Gillis had made "racist" remarks during a September 2018 episode of his "Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast."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



Bud Light has taken off its beer goggles.

The massive brand has learned a few lessons from its costly Dylan Mulvaney experiment. Among them: Fake chicks don't sell beer.

In a bid to transition from the ensuing boycott, Bud Light has hired comic Shane Gillis to star in a commercial that hearkens back to the kind of campaign that helped make it a household name.

Bud Light owner Anheuser-Busch had this to say about the partnership with Gillis:

Bud Light and football just go together. From the tailgate to the celebratory cheers in the stands to the round for friends at the bar, Bud Light is showing up for 21+ fans on gameday. Now, to rally college football fans across the country, Bud Light is introducing a new campaign in partnership with actor and comedian Shane Gillis, who stars and co-writes alongside longtime comedy partner John McKeever, who also directed the new content rolling out throughout the college football season.

'Bud Light came all the way back – UFC, Shane Gillis. Let's go!'

Titled "The Dean’s Office," the spot depicts a star football player called before college authorities to answer accusations of plagiarism. The dean offers him a bucket of Bud Light if he makes a confession.

No sooner is he about to oblige then his football coach (Gillis) butts in to confess his own embarrassing secret — and claim his reward.

Soon, everyone including the dean is making confessions — anything for a precious Bud Light.

The new beer ad was co-written by Gillis and longtime comedy partner John McKeever. The commercial also stars Steve Gerben — who co-stars with Gillis on the "Tires" sitcom.

"I like football and beer, especially Bud Light. It was fun to work with McKeever and Steve on this," Gillis said of the advertisement.

The commercial began airing August 31 during college football games on NBC, ABC, and ESPN.

Following the Dylan Mulvaney debacle, Bud Light dropped from the top-selling beer to the third, while parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev lost roughly $1.4 billion in sales since the transgender activist controversy.

Alissa Heinerscheid, marketing VP behind the ill-fated Mulvaney campaign, has said she chose the bizarre spokesman as a way to correct the brand's "fratty ... out-of-touch humor."

"And we had this hangover. I mean, Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor, and it was really important that we had another approach," Heinerscheid declared before being replaced.

Despite many celebrities dumping Bud Light over the Dylan Mulvaney boycott, Gillis continued to drink the controversial beer brand.

"Bud Light came all the way back — UFC, Shane Gillis. Let's go! I mean, that's a good move," Joe Rogan noted on his podcast. "Listen, I'm so happy. It just made so much sense. You never let them go. You never bailed on them," Rogan told Gillis. "In the heart of all the craziness, you never bailed on them. Kid Rock is shooting cases of it."

Rogan pitched the idea of Gillis being the new spokesperson for Bud Light during an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" in May 2023.

In March, Bud Light became the official beer sponsor of UFC.

The red-hot stand-up comedian has been on a massive winning streak after he was fired from "Saturday Night Live" in 2019. Gillis was fired from "SNL" just four days after being hired after it was reported that he made remarks deemed to be racist during an episode of his "Matt & Shane's Secret Podcast."

The talented comedian self-funded his first comedy special — “Shane Gillis: Live in Austin” — that has garnered more than 31 million views on YouTube. His comedy special “Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs” was a top-10 Netflix show in 2023. The Gillis-led scripted comedy series "Tires" debuted as Netflix's second-most watched show in May and has already been renewed for a second season.

Gillis stars in the online "Gilly and Keeves" comedy skit show. "Matt & Shane's Secret Podcast" is the most popular podcast on Patreon. Despite being terminated by "SNL," Gillis hosted "Saturday Night Live" in February. And he just capped off a successful stand-up tour — sponsored by Bud Light.

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Shane Gillis rocks Austin, Texas, as Donald Trump



Former president Donald Trump made a triumphant return to the spotlight at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Tuesday, his bandaged ear a reminder of the assassination attempt he'd survived just two days earlier at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, the latest episode of the popular comedy podcast "Kill Tony" featured the triumphant return of comic Shane Gillis' famous impression of the 45th president — this time performed in full Trump regalia.

The episode, as usual recorded live at Austin, Texas, venue Comedy Mothership, started with a special, top-secret guest: "Joe Biden" (portrayed by comic Adam Ray). After slowly walking out on stage with a vacant grin, Ray joined host Tony Hinchcliffe and his producer Brian Redban on the dais to watch show regular Casey Rocket warm up the crowd.

Ray's Biden-esque rambling was then cut off by patriotic, MAGA-themed video montage, leading into Gillis' entrance as Trump.

As in Milwaukee, the crowd erupted.

While the episode was prerecorded on July 8, the timing for its release could not have been better.

'This man, showered with his daughter. Do you believe this?'

Gillis and Ray stayed in character for nearly two-and-a-half hours, exchanging presidential jabs, with Gillis honing in on certain creepy allegations about the incumbent.

When a guest comedian revealed getting married at 17 years old, Gillis joked that it was a great age for "showering with your dad, the way [Biden's] daughter did."

"Look it up! You're going to be very, very surprised that this guy, this man, showered with his daughter. Do you believe this? Till she was 13," he added.

"I love my family!" Ray replied, displaying the trademark Biden smirk.

Gillis was referring to the diary of Biden's daughter Ashley, in which she recorded a disturbing childhood memory of showering with her father.

"Was I molested? I think so," she wrote.

The faux presidents also touched on foreign policy. After a performance by a former Army Ranger, who revealed he had been deployed to Afghanistan three times, host Tony Hinchcliffe remarked that Trump did not get the credit that he deserved for ending the war in the Middle East.

Gillis as Trump then jabbed at Biden's botched pullout from Afghanistan: "I wanted out of there and then what Joe did ... what an absolute disgrace, this was horrible."

The Ranger agreed and said that he would be voting for Trump in 2024, as he did in 2020.

The crowd's genial reaction to Gillis' antics revealed something "Kill Tony" fans have known for a long time: The liberal, anti-Trump stranglehold on comedy is weakening.

Just contrast Gillis' generally affectionate ribbing of Trump with the tone-deaf attempt at humor by Jack Black's Tenacious D bandmate Kyle Gass. While playing a concert in Australia the day after the shooting, Black sang "Happy Birthday" to Gass, then asked him to make a wish.

Gass jokingly asked that any future would-be assassin not "miss Trump next time." The chilly response to Gass' remark, both at the venue and online, would seem to indicate that the appetite for such ideologically driven Trump "humor" has dwindled.

Instead of tired Orange-Man-Hitler material, Gillis and Ray both offered exaggerated yet fundamentally accurate portrayals of Trump and Biden, respectively. If Gillis' Trump came off better, it wasn't because of some kind of partisan bias on the part of the show.

In other words, it's funny because it's true. The raucous response that night from an audience in one of America's most notoriously liberal towns offers a hopeful sign that real comedy — the type that puts laughter before politics — will never go out of style.

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Bill Burr explains why he'll never apologize to the outrage mob



Comedian Bill Burr has never been one to back down to controversy or bend the knee to political correctness. During a recent podcast appearance, the popular stand-up comedian explained why he'll never apologize to the outrage mob.

On Thursday, Burr appeared on “Steve-O’s Wild Ride” – a podcast hosted by the star of the reality TV stunt show "Jacka**." Steve-O – whose real name is Stephen Gilchrist Glover – asked Burr, "Okay I got a random question. I really thought about this because I’m genuinely curious if you’ve ever apologized for a joke?”

Burr admitted that he has apologized, but specified, "Yeah. But I do it to the individual that I hurt."

Burr explained that "if I told a joke about something that somebody had a personal effect to and I made them sad or made them cry" he would apologize to that offended individual if they were offended at a joke at one of his stand-up comedy shows.

However, Burr proclaimed that he would "refuse to apologize to anybody that is upset that they heard a joke at a show they weren’t at."

He said if a person got offended at a comedy special that he put out for the public, then he would consider the criticism. Burr declared he would never apologize if the negativity is coming from a person solely seeking out content to be outraged about.

Burr noted that there is so much entertainment online and on streaming services that there is plenty not to get angry at, and presented "videos of dogs snoring" as an example.

The comedy great said, "But you went out of your way to f***ing watch this thing, it’s on you."

"I am a big believer in if you are wrong, and if you feel you’re wrong, you apologize," he conceded. "But I’m not a believer in the mob mentality and I’m not gonna apologize just cause it’s not worth it. Because then all I do is give that strength that it’s okay to do that and then some other comic’s going to have to deal with it."

"The Mandolorian" star added, "If you come up to me after a f***king show, I’ll listen to you, and if I agree with what you’re saying I’ll be like, ‘Yeah, okay. It wasn’t a personal thing, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you went through that or whatever.’ And what I’ve found is they’ll actually be cool with you. People, anybody, like us… They want to be heard."

Burr refuses to apologize to the "professional being offended" crowd who only get outraged to "move whatever cause because you feel like you can fix society with your ideas."

Burr warned that everything has become about "steering" the narrative like "Fox News and CNN" that "some a**hole" will take the audio clip without context and say, "See! Comedians should apologize!"

(CAUTION: Explicit language)

Has Bill Burr Ever Apologized For A Joke? | Wild Ride! Clips www.youtube.com

In the past, Burr has railed against cancel culture, provoked liberals during his Grammy appearance, and defended Gina Carana after she was fired by Disney.

You can watch the entire episode of "Steve-O's Wild Ride" featuring Bill Burr below.

(CAUTION: Explicit language)

Bill Burr - Steve-O's Wild Ride! Ep #107 www.youtube.com

Bo Burnham’s Netflix Special ‘Inside’ Is A Darkly Comic Look At Quarantine

Bo Burnham's latest offering, 'Inside,' is as tense as it is funny — and absolutely brilliant for it.