Saturday Night Live’s Shane Gillis Issues Statement About Racist Comments

New Saturday Night Live featured player Shane Gillis recently made headlines for a since-deleted YouTube video that recently resurfaced with news of his casting. In the video, Gillis mocks people of Chinese descent alongside podcast co-host Matt McCusker. Hours after the story made national news and SNL came under fire for the now controversial casting, Gillis has issued a statement on his personal Twitter account, explaining that he’s a “comedian who pushes boundaries” and that he’ll “apologize to anyone who’s actually offended” by what he’s said.

You can read Gillis’ full statement below:

“I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss,” writes Gillis. “If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you’re going to find a lot of bad misses. I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve ever said. My intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks.”

In the original video clip, Gillis can be found saying a racial slur denigrating Chinese people, as well as saying things about Chinatown and insulting interactions with waiters at Chinese restaurants. He later proclaims in the clip: “nice racism, good racism. I love to be f—ing racist.”

Saturday Night Live nor NBC have yet to issue a statement regarding the racist comments made by their newest cast member.

A new report from Vulture digs deep into Gillis’ offensive comedy, which include homophobic slurs as well as other racist comments. The report includes a comment from Philadelphia’s Good Good Comedy Theatre co-owner Kate Banford, who explained that she was surprised by SNL’s casting news because of his material.

“Good Good Comedy Theatre stopped working with him within the past few years because of racist, homophobic, and sexist things he’s said on and offstage,” Banford said.

Another unnamed source explained that it was “extremely discouraging” to see Gillis’ rise in the Philadelphia, saying that “using the language he did and got so much recognition for was really disheartening.”

Actor Lewis Tan took to social media, decrying the comments and calling for action.

“Expose racism. We ain’t gunna take this shit anymore, you will think about it if ever run into me,” Tan wrote on Twitter.

Saturday Night Live is scheduled to return to NBC this Fall.