Hahaha, I figured it out. For any individuals with the same issue… It was an issue with the transfer of gradients from the original illustrators file. Either remove the gradient in the illustrator file before importing and creating the shape in after effects or.. just don’t create a shape from AI elements containing gradients aha.
A good side note would be to look up what AI elements transfer in AE and which don’t. Could be of use for future reference