Fired former SNL cast member Shane Gillis has landed a new Netflix comedy series – after the star shocked with jokes about Down syndrome and race during his return to the sketch show last week.
The comedian, 36, had been cut from the show five years earlier after past videos emerged that showed him making racist and homophobic comments – but his star is now set to rise even further with six episode scripted series, Tires, set to premiere May 2023.
Gillis stars in the series, and serves as writer, co-creator and executive producer, per Deadline.
Tires’ storyline revolves around Will (Steven Gerben), the’ nervous and unqualified heir to an auto repair chain who attempts to turn his father’s business around despite constant torture from his cousin and now employee, Shane (Gillis)’.
Chris O’Connor, Kilah Fox and Stavros Halkias will also star with guest appearances by Andrew Schulz.
Fired former SNL cast member Shane Gillis has landed a new Netflix comedy series – after the star shocked with jokes about Down syndrome and race during his return to the sketch show last week
Netflix have also ordered a new stand-up special from Gillis after the worldwide success of his 2023 show, Beautiful Dogs.
This comes after Gillis returned as SNL returned as SNL host with a shockingly risque monologue joking about Down syndrome, race and gays.
The funnyman – who became a huge online star after his 2019 ousting over racist and homophobic remarks – stunned the audience by suggesting he’d been ‘nicked’ by Down syndrome and using the word r*tarded.
Gillis then went into a lengthy story about how his niece has Down Syndrome, while poking fun at himself for looking like he himself had it.
‘I don’t if you can tell by looking at me, but I do have family members with Down Syndrome. It almost got me! I dodged it, but it nicked me!’
He then said: ‘My niece has Down Syndrome and… I thought that was gonna get a bigger laugh. I thought we were allowed to have fun here!’
In 2019 several clips surfaced in which the star used racist and homophobic slurs on numerous occasions – including on an episode of Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast.
Before moving on, Gillis briefly addressed his firing, opening with a chastened: ‘Yeah, I’m here.’
The comedian, 36, had been cut from the show five years earlier after past videos emerged that showed him making racist and homophobic comments – but his star is now set to rise even further with six episode scripted series, Tires, set to premiere May 2023
Netflix have also ordered a new stand-up special from Gillis after the worldwide success of his 2023 show, Beautiful Dogs
Gillis is pictured with Donald Trump – although he insists he’s a Joe Biden supporter
‘Most of you probably have no idea who I am,’ he said. ‘I was actually fired from this show a while ago but… don’t look that up, please, if you don’t know who I am. Please don’t Google that. It’s fine, don’t even worry about it.’
He then joked about how he resembles ‘a high school football coach/9th grade sex education teacher’ before calling out his father, who was in the audience, saying that he’s a ‘volunteer junior high girls basketball coach.’
Gillis – who released a Netflix special last year and co-hosts a podcast with over 100,000 subscribers on Patreon – often struggled with the New York audience’s reaction
‘Look, I don’t have any material that can be on TV,’ he cracked. ‘I’m trying my best. Also, this place is extremely well lit, I can see everyone not enjoying it.’
However, the comedian – who recently partnered with Bud Light as a spokesman – continued to plow through with material about young men and their relationships with their mom that touched on homosexuality.
‘My mom asked me: ‘When did we stop being best friends?’ And she’s right, we used to be best friends. You remember that, when you were a little boy and you loved your mom? Remember when you were gay?
He continued: ‘You remember when you were just a gay little boy? Every little boy is just their mom’s gay best friend, there’s zero difference.’
Gillis then joked about how he would gossip with his mother while listening to ‘her music,’ miming the opening to Shania Twain’s ‘Man, I feel Like a Woman.’
The punch of the joke was Gillis admitting that he’d stopped being his mother’s best friend when he began masturbating as a teenager.
