Shane Gillis's jokes went too far. Should this end his "NL" career?

The new season of "Saturday Night Live" will not begin in two weeks, but the long series of comedy skits is already undergoing a thorough review for a new employee who is yet to appear in the series.

On Thursday, "S.N.L." said he hired Shane Gillis, a 31-year-old comedian, to participate in the program as a featured performer. A few hours after the announcement, Gillis video recordings in which he is seen using sectarian language have largely circulated on the Internet and attracted criticism from other comedians and his fans.

In a video of one of his podcasts, Gillis talked about Chinatown and took a caricatural accent by making fun of Chinese people learning to speak English. In another podcast recording, Gillis used homophobic insults to describe Judd Apatow, the filmmaker and comedy producer, and comedian Chris Gethard.

Gillis stated that he did not intend to hurt anyone with his work, but his criticism soon overshadowed the praise that SNL received for raising one of its authors, Bowen Yang, who is Chinese in the United States, at the star station. Some venues have stated that they would no longer work with Gillis, citing other documents and languages ​​that he deems unacceptable.

The controversy surrounding Gillis has raised questions about the verification process used by "NL" when hiring new talent and whether Gillis can remain a viable artist there.

The debate also renewed longstanding questions about comedy, a genre in which artists and audiences agree that there must be sufficient room for performers to cross the boundaries between convention and convenience. What happens when a comedian goes too far? Who can decide and what punishment should this comedian inflict?

And in the case of Gillis, is it even obvious that he was using these insults as a comedian? Or did he use comedy to protect himAre there repercussions of a blatant offensive speech?

Friday night, "Saturday Night Live" had not given any indication on the next steps. Representatives of the press for the show and for NBC, who broadcast it, did not immediately comment. Gillis representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Gethard, one of Gillis' chosen comedians, said in an interview that Gillis had called him Friday morning to apologize.

"He definitely let me know that he felt that he had crossed certain lines," said Gethard. "He certainly has a lot of fish to fry today, so the fact that he has taken some time to do it today, I congratulate him."

Even in this case, said Gethard, Gillis and other less experienced comedians could learn from this incident.

"You do not necessarily need to record and release all your thoughts when you determine your voice," he said. "Let your unfiltered thoughts stay in the mic for a while. Maybe you do not need to put everything in the world. "

Gillis, for her part, tried to contextualize her earlier remarks. Thursday night at The Stand, a comedy club in Manhattan where he often performs, Gillis was invited on stage by another comedian to address the controversy, according to Cris Italia, owner of The Stand. Gillis told the crowd that he had played a character during the podcast and that he did not think himself to the Chinese that way, said Italia.

In a Twitter article published late Thursday night, he described himself as "a comedian who pushes the limits," adding, "I miss sometimes."

"If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of the time, you will find a lot of bad things," wrote Gillis. "I am happy to apologize to anyone who is offended by all that I have said."

But there is a widespread feeling that Gillis's remarks are not just jokes that have escaped, but have displeased. Ming Zou, a 24-year-old lawyer from Shanghai who was visiting the pavilion outside Rockefeller Center on Friday, asked why Gillis felt the need to use this insult for the Chinese.

"Everyone knows what makes something offensive," Zou said. "But we see people crossing this line again and again."

She added, "It's one thing to notice cultural differences. But if you use something like using the word C, you have to ask yourself what is your goal. If your goal is simply to belittle someone, then it's not a real comedy. "

Actress Hannah Gadsby appeared to criticize Twitter actors such as Gillis and those who defend it.

Although it is not well known to the national public, Gillis' career was growing, with frequent appearances in major comedy clubs in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere.

"He was only a model citizen here," said Mr. Italia, owner of the stand. "It's ridiculous to release a quote from the context of a podcast that he did More than a year ago and ruin his chance of being a cast member. "

But Greg Maughan, founder and executive director of the Philly Improv Theater in Philadelphia, had a different experience with Gillis, saying his show space had stopped working with Gillis in 2017.

Maughan stated that this decision had followed "an internal discussion within the staff because it seemed to insist that the material was racist, misogynistic, xenophobic and homophobic".

A post on the Twitter account of the Good Good Comedy Theater, also in Philadelphia, said he "deliberately chose not to work with Gillis because of his" racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia – expressed on and off the stage ".

Other prominent comedians have been confronted with online protests – and, in some cases, had concrete consequences – for making shocking jokes on the Internet. In December, Kevin Hart stepped down as a 2019 Academy Awards host as a result of jokes and tweets considered homophobic.

Trevor Noah has been criticized for past tweets considered offensive to women and Jews after the announcement in 2015 of his intention to become the host of "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central. The executives of Viacom, the parent company of the network, then said they had not checked Noah's Twitter account before hiring him.