Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang is sticking by his calls for forgiveness for Shane Gillis, the 31-year-old comedian who was hired and quickly fired by “Saturday Night Live” over past racist statements.
“I actually sat there and watched some of Shane's comedy to figure out whether I thought that he was truly malignant or evil or just a comedian who'd made some terrible and distasteful jokes,” Yang, who is Taiwenese-American, said in an interview this week.
Gillis has called it a “hassle” to have to speak with a waiter at a Chinese restaurant, mocked Asian accents, and used a racial slur to describe Asians, including calling out Yang as a “Jew c***k.”
But
SNL announced on Monday that Gillis would no longer be joining the show. “We were not aware of his prior remarks that have surfaced over the past few days. The language he used is offensive, hurtful and unacceptable," a spokesperson for Executive Producer Lorne Michaels said.
Yang said quickly he disagreed with the decision. “As a society, we have become unduly punitive and vindictive about people making statements that some find offensive or distasteful,” he said outside a campaign rally as news of Gillis’ firing started to spread.
Yang also told POLITICO that while he might give comedians and entertainers more leeway, he does draw the line between a misstatement in a comedic context and true advocacy of racist ideas.
“That to me is beyond the pale and people should face consequences,” Yang said.
Yang has faced backlash for his defense of Gillis, but he isn’t changing course.
“Shane Gillis reached out,”
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine