We thought Ariana Grande was doing Hot Ones today, but it was actually Shane Gillis
The controversial comedian took on the gauntlet to promote, well, not much of anything at all
It’s a cold day in wing world. Earlier this week, First We Feast’s Twitter/X account teased a very special episode. Responding to a post suggesting Ariana Grande would be the next guest on Hot Ones, the account responded, “yes, and?” (the name of her recent single). Later, they posted, “sorry, soy wings take a lil longer to prep…,” a reference to Grande’s veganism. The internet (and the A.V. Club news desk) celebrated. Would she tease something from Wicked? Rank her own albums under the duress of 700,000 Scoville units? The people waited with bated breath and milk in hand.
But when we refreshed First We Feast’s YouTube page today, we were met with a cruel surprise. Soy wings apparently really do take longer to prep, because this wasn’t Ariana Grande’s week; it was Shane Gillis’. You know Shane Gillis, the controversial comedian who was fired from Saturday Night Live just five days after he was hired, after racist comments he had made on his podcast resurfaced? The Shane Gillis who’s currently enjoying an exasperating Joe Rogan-supported comeback tour? Yeah, that one. Thank u, Hot Ones, but let’s move on to the next.
As for Gillis’ actual episode, it’s as cringey as you would imagine. Gillis spends exactly one minute talking about his Netflix series, Tires, which was just renewed for a second season. (“I worked in a tire shop in Philly once and it’s just crazy people working together, dudes that are nuts, everyday physical fights. It’s crazy.”) The rest of the episode is the equivalent of watching two frat bros converse over a dining hall lunch. The comedian and host Sean Evans plumbs such transcended topics as gross sports moments, funny prank calls, hot presidents, and favorite roadside snacks. At one point, Gillis jokes about having a Nazi items when Evans asks him about the “U.S. history memorabilia hanging from the walls of [his] apartment.” It’s brutal.
The most illuminating bit of the episode by far comes when Evans asks Gillis if there’s a type of room he considers his “comedy nightmare.” “Now I do shows, sometimes the crowd’s too rowdy. There’s dudes that are like, ‘Yeah,’ the whole time,” Gillis answered, naming Bakersfield, California as his worst show because there were “dudes who worked on oil rigs” that showed up “hammered, screaming the whole time.” He also added that the oil rig dudes apparently harassed his buddy who came out first, shouting, “Where the fuck’s Shane!?”
Oh, no! The crowd you courted by making racist and homophobic jokes is disrespectful and rude? We never would have guessed. Hopefully, Ariana’s episode will come next week to soothe our pain just like milk after a particularly spicy wing.