Shane Gillis is a famous stand-up comedian. He co-hosts the infamous ‘Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast’ along with Matt McCusker. In 2021, Gillis made his first comedy special show called ‘Shane Gillis: Live in Austin’. His show went viral on YouTube and received over 30 Million views. His fame increased which allowed him to release his second comedy special on Netflix, called ‘Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs’. His show received worldwide praise. In 2024, Gillis starred in a comedy show on Netflix called ‘Tires’ which he also created.

Gillis’s Early Life

Born on December 11, 1987, Shane Gillis grew up in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania to parents, Phil and Joan Gillis. In his teenage years, he went to Trinity High School and was quite known for playing football for the school’s team. After graduating, he attended the United States Military Academy in New York, however, he quit very soon after. He then graduated from West Chester University. After graduation, Gillis taught English in Spain for a few months. Safe to say, Shane Gillis explored a variety of career options before he became a stand-up comedian.

Shane Gillis’ Career

In 2012, Gillis initiated his stand-up career by performing at the Helium Comedy Club’s ‘Philly Phunniest’tournament in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He won third for the best performance there and also won the subsequent year. In 2016, he started co-hosting the viral ‘Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast’. He is also a regular guest at ‘The Bonfire’ radio show. In 2019, at a comedy festival, Just for Laughs announced Gillis as one of their ‘new faces’. In 2020, Gillis won the ‘Stand-up Comedian of the Year’ award at the Theinterrobang’s 6th Annual Comedy Awards.

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Gillis’s SNL Controversy

On September 12, 2019, Gillis was announced as a performer on the Saturday Night Live (SNL) along with co-comedians, Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman. However, soon after this announcement a journalist dug a past clip of Gillis in which he was seen using racial slurs at his comedy show. He used the word ‘chink’ which is a slur for the Chinese people.

In the clip, Gillis and his co-host, Matt McCusker talked about Chinatown in Philidelphia and said that they were puzzled by the foreignness of that place. Gillis then went on to use the word ‘chink’ for them. After this clip resurfaced, Gillis’s selection for the SNL became a news headline.

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Gillis later tried to explain that although he did regret saying those words out of his mouth, he was imitating a white landlord in the early 90s and was not expressing his thoughts. In another clip, Gillis and McCusker ranked comedians by different factors including sexual orientation, and used some gay slurs. In response to this, Gillis tweeted that he, as a comedian, pushed boundaries and if people were to go through his past clips at comedy shows, they were bound to find offensive things. Four days later, SNL fired Gillis.

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Later on, Gillis continued to maintain that his words were taken out of context and that he was misquoted in most of the news. He further stated that he regretted his “corny” account of himself as a comedian who pushed boundaries. He explained that he was given only five minutes to come up with an explanation and under pressure this was the best he could do at the time. He officially retracted his statement.

Shane Gillis’ Wife

Gillis has publicly mentioned his girlfriend during several of his shows and also revealed bits of their relationship. However, he has been very careful not to reveal her name or any personal details of his lover.

He did, however, mention he met his girlfriend through Instagram and that they had been dating for 6 months at the time. He disclosed this piece of information in 2021 in an episode of ‘Your Mom’s House’. In another interview, Gillis revealed that he was living together with her.

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In his Netflix special ‘Beautiful Dogs’, Gillis confirmed that he lived with his girlfriend and also revealed that she previously dated a Naval Seal officer. Although his fans have linked him with several high-profile women, there is not enough evidence for their claims. There remains very little information about her except that she originally hails from Iowa.

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Fatima Abid: Obsessed with books since childhood, Fatima Abid now pens down her own words. Her favorite part about writing is transforming the ideas flying in her head into words on a screen. Her abundance of articles are a testament to her passion for writing.