Shane Gillis bombs ‘SNL’ monologue as he addresses 2019 firing: Thought I’d ‘get a bigger laugh’

Shane Gillis addressed his 2019 firing from “Saturday Night Live” while hosting the show on Saturday.NBC/YouTube

Comedian Shane Gillis hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend and used his opening monologue to address his 2019 firing from the sketch comedy series.

“I’m here,” the 36-year-old said at the start of his monologue five years after he was let go from the show for using racial and homophobic slurs on a podcast.

“Most of you probably have no idea who I am. I was actually — I was fired from this show a while ago. But, you know, 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.”

The comedian was let go from the show for using racial and homophobic slurs on a podcast. NBC/YouTube

As the nearly eight-minute opening continued, Gillis joked about his sister marrying an Egyptian man and the couple adopting three Black children, saying that going over to their house is like “getting into the craziest Uber Pool you’ve ever been in.” 

He then made some quips about a few of his family members having Down syndrome, saying that they are “doing better than everybody I know.”

He added that they “are the only ones having a pretty good time consistently.”

But that didn’t stop him from delivering NSFW jokes. Rosalind O'Connor/NBC

When Gillis mentioned that his niece has Down syndrome, the audience chuckled.

After taking a beat, Gillis awkwardly said, “[I] thought that was going to get a bigger laugh.”

“This place is extremely well-lit. I can see everyone not enjoying it,” he further said.

Gillis was hired by “SNL” in 2019, but fired just five days later without even having gone on the air.

Gillis made some jokes about people having Down syndrome. Will Heath/NBC The audience laughed, but not as hard as Gillis had hoped. Will Heath/NBC

In the days leading up to his return to the show, Page Six exclusively reported that Gillis planned to go hard and use his trademark Down syndrome jokes.

“He’s going all in,” our insider said after seeing the comedian working out material a couple of times in comedy clubs in the city recently.

Since his firing from “Saturday Night Live,” Gillis has gained popularity because of his two popular Netflix specials, “Live In Austin” and “Beautiful Dogs.”

He’s also made regular appearance on Joe Rogan’s controversial podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.”