(CNN) New "Saturday Night Live" cast member Shane Gillis has issued a statement in response to criticism over racially insensitive comments he made as part of his podcast.

According to footage resurfaced by journalist Seth Simons, the comedian is heard using a racial slur against people of Chinese descent in a September 2018 episode of his show with Matt McCusker, "Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast."

"Chinatown's f---ing nuts" he says at one point in the conversation, which has since been deleted, followed by "let the f----ing ch--ks live there."

In another episode first highlighted by Vulture , Gillis and McCusker rank the talent of other comedians based on ethnicity and gender and used a homophobic slur. When discussing the approach of comics like Judd Apatow and Chris Gethard, they described them as "white f**got comics."

Thursday night, just hours after it was announced that Gillis was joining "SNL" next season, he posted a statement on Twitter.

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