Lorne Michaels has once again opened up about the decision to fire Shane Gillis Saturday evening live before ever hitting the Studio 8H stage.

Gillis was fired in September 2019, ahead of season 45 of the long-running NBC show.

At the time it seemed to be a decision by creator Michaels, but that is evident from a new interview with the Wall Street Journalthe Canadian said this was the network’s call.

“That was very strong from the people in charge. And obviously I wasn’t on that side, but I understood,” Michaels told the newspaper.

Gillis never made it SNL was cast after comments surfaced online of him making racist remarks against Asians. In a statement at the time, Michaels said through a spokesperson, “after speaking with Shane Gillis, we have decided he will not be joining SNL.”

Three months later, then-NBC boss Paul Telegdy spoke about the decision. “How quickly Lorne acted and what happened next is a testament to how we act as a company,” he said during the TCA press tour. “We acted quickly, Lorne did the right thing and we believe we will be rightly held accountable in the future.”

Gillis has had a promising career, launching a number of stand-up specials, including Beautiful dogs on Netflix, as well as sitcom Tyres on the streamer, which has been renewed for a second season.

He also had the last laugh and acted as host SNL in February, where he joked about being fired.