Bowen Yang Shuts Down SNL Extra’s Claim He Got Shane Gillis Fired (And Flexes on Her Too)

Shane Gillis was fired from Saturday Night Live almost seven years ago. Seven! I’ve lately become obsessed with (and depressed by) things that feel like they happened yesterday but happened pre-lockdown. The Gillis firing was huge news, as it was found that the new castmember had a history of making racist and homophobic jokes, but was joining the cast alongside the first Chinese-American castmember, Bowen Yang. NBC/Universal was apparently behind the decision to fire Gillis, which made Lorne Michaels “angry.”

The whole thing was a pretty huge deal, as Gillis is a comedian who, by his own admission, “pushes boundaries.” So, plenty of normal people who think jokes aren’t funny unless they’re offensive got up in arms about this bastion of free speech getting fired from a show they probably weren’t going to watch anyway. There was also blame placed on Yang, both from regular folks and the media, as they assumed he was responsible. This falsehood continues to be pushed, much to Yang’s chagrin.

Yang himself has expressed a desire to move beyond the whole thing. Gillis went on to grow a huge fanbase and was brought back to host the show last year. Michaels, further proving that he was against his firing, even wanted to bring him in to regularly play Trump on the show, which Gillis thankfully turned down (that’s not even a knock at his potential casting, I just love James Austin Johnson). It feels like everyone involved wants to move on from what happened, but some people can’t let it go and need to be put in their place.

That was certainly the case for Michelle Best, a background actor on the show at one point in 2019. She hopped into SNL’s Instagram comments (like most normal people would do) to lament that people aren’t acknowledging that Yang “bitched” Gillis off the show and how Gillis is a “bigger man” while Yang is just a “whiny queen.” Not only are Best’s comments stupid and offensive, but given that Best has a few stand-up clips online, they scream “Please approve of me, popular comedian.” It’s also not a smart move for someone who wants to keep getting work, because people noticed, but maybe not the ones she wanted.

Sometimes, going into fierce detail when you tear somebody down is the way to go. You can make a meal out of it, and take your time eviscerating the person you’re clapping back at. Yang chose a different route, deciding to be brief yet surgical in his takedown of Best. “[D]idn’t do any of this but I wrote the sketch you were a background actor in.” In that short sentence, Yang not only denies her bulls***, he flexes his bonafides on her.

The best revenge is living well, and while Best’s comments didn’t deserve a response, Yang gave the best one possible. He is booked and blessed and unbothered by ignorance but not above shutting it down. Someday people may not drag Yang into every conversation about Gillis’ short-lived SNL tenure. That day is not today. Instead, we have people who insist upon making something out of nothing. As long as they do, Yang will be there to shut them down.