Meet Matt McCusker — Co-Host Of Shane Gillis' Podcast Who's Also Guilty Of Racist And Homophobic Remarks
He's just as guilty as the other guy.
Instagram When Saturday Night Live announced their new cast members, the reaction was mixed. People were thrilled to see the show announce it's first Asian cast member, Bowen Yang, but people were less thrilled to learn that Shane Gillis was hired. The rising comic was eventually asked NOT to join the cast of SNL when words of his racist and homophobic comments on a podcast started making the rounds. Who is Matt McCusker? He's the co-host of the podcast where Shane made those comments, and he's said some not so awesome things himself. Let's break it all down now, shall we?
1. Meet Matt McCusker
With his co-host Shane Gillis, Matt McCusker runs Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast. In 2018 the podcast released a controversial episode where Shane used a racial slur when talking about Chinese people. The episode might have never been seen by anyone had it not been for Shane's casting on Saturday Night Live. Seth Simons is reponsible for finding the clips where both McCusker and Gillis make fun of people who are Jewish and Chinese, and the abuse doesn't stop there. Matt claims that Chinese people were to blame for the invention of MSG (a naturally occuring compound) and then went on to mock people who are gay, thus completeing the trifecta of awful.
2. Matt's Comedic Chops
Matt McCusker's role in this entire debacle hasn't been as covered as his co-host Shane's involvement, and that makes a certain amount of sense. While he is a podcast host, he was not the one who was cast on Saturday Night Live, though Matt does have his own comedic chops. In 2014 he was named "Philly's Funniest" by the Helium comedy club. I was mugged and robbed about a block from that comedy club after living mugging free in New York City for 13 years, so make of that what you will. Matt has other credits as well, having appeared on the Comedy Central web series Delco Proper, which I have never heard of before and let's be real, you probably haven't either.
3. Matt's Private Life
Matt has had other successes, depending on what your particular definition of success may be. For me, it's being able to show your face in public and hold your head high, for Matt it's saying that he once opened for comedian Damon Wayans, a thing that will probably never happen again because Matt's best jokes do nothing other than inspire the ire of cancel culture. Matt is well-educated (shocker, you can have a degree and still be a total idiot), he recieved his degree in International Business. Tragically, a woman agreed to marry the guy, and so he now lives in South Jersey with his bride and apparently a couple of dogs. Hopefully, he's feeling chagrined.
4. Matt's Vegan Tacos
While Matt was studying business at Drexel, he and his brother Tom also engaged in another gig: starting a vegan taco truck back in 2009. According to Drexel University’s website “[Tom] McCusker is known as the Philly street food godfather. The press made him famous long before he pocketed a dime. He cooked tacos for Chef Gordon Ramsay — a victory for any young business owner.” The truck was so successful that it actually became a full-on restaurant in 2016. They had to shutter their doors, however, in July of 2019 when Tom decided it was time for him to pursue his other passion: hemp farming. How involved Matt was in the restaurant's day to day operations is unknown.
5. Matt's Side Hustle
When he isn't flagrantly insulting others for laughs, riding his brother's vegan coattails, or being very good at one comedy club in Philadelphia, McCusker has other ambitions: he dreams of becoming a successful novelist. In fact, in 2018 he wrote a novel called Overlook: A Story About Drugs, Disappointment and The American Dream. The book is available and lucky for you it can be snapped up for the bargain basement price of $10.00. The novel is the “story of five dysfunctional neighbors, denizens of a blue-collar community whose lives become entangled around the missing son of a local dry-cleaning magnate.” The book is very well-reviewed, and most of the reviews seem to be from fans of his podcast.
6. Friends In High Places
While many people think that SNL did the right thing in firing Gillis, not everyone feels the same way. Taiwanese-American presidential candidate Andrew Yang, told CNN, “You know, I’ve been public about my comments. I think that he deserved another chance to keep his job, but the folks at NBC obviously felt differently. As the person who was personally called out in this case, I thought that if I could set an example that we can forgive people, particularly in an instance where, in my mind, it was in a comedic context or a gray area, that I thought it would be positive. Obviously, it is in NBC’s hands and they made the decision they made.” Thankfully, methinks Yang and Lorne Michaels aren't, like, tight.
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. She's an experienced generalist with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, pop culture, and true crime.