Gillis was hired as a featured player in 2019 and fired days later after videos resurfaced of him making racial slurs on his podcast

"When he came back to the show last year [to host], we saw, 'Oh right, he’s really talented, and he would’ve been really good for us.'"

Asked if he’s more concerned about being politically correct now than when the show started in 1975, Michaels reflected on The Shane Gillis Incident as an example. “We had a bad time when I added Shane Gillis to the cast [in 2019].

Lorne Michaels has no regrets about hiring controversial comedian Shane Gillis — or bringing him back to host Saturday Night Live after he was fired for resurfaced racist and homophobic jokes. "We had a bad time when I added Shane Gillis to the cast [in 2019],

Lorne Michaels, the creator and producer of “Saturday Night Live,” says he will have to “reinvent” former President Trump’s character on the show. “I think we have the people to play [the candidates],