After eight years on the show, Bowen Yang is reportedly leaving Saturday Night Live in the middle of its current season. According to Variety, this Saturday’s episode, hosted by Yang’s Wicked co-star Ariana Grande with musical guest Cher, is set to be Yang’s last.
Yang joined SNL as a writer in 2018 and joined the cast as a featured player in 2019. Since then, he’s become one of the show’s biggest stars, earning four Emmy nominations. His departure comes at a time when the actor has seemingly never been busier. Yang continues to host the Las Culturistas podcast with Matt Rogers, and it was recently reported that the pair will write and star in a movie about two friends trying to get into Berghain, the famous Berlin club. On top of that, Yang appeared in both Wicked movies, launched his own awards show on Bravo, and still managed to be on SNL almost every week.
Neither Yang nor SNL has addressed reports that he’s leaving the show, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, his departure was Yang’s choice and did not come as a surprise. Representatives for Yang and NBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this year, SNL purged its cast of several fan-favorite performers. Ego Nwodim and Heidi Gardner, both close friends of Yang’s, left the show, along with Yang’s frequent collaborator, writer Celeste Yim. They joined several of the show’s cutest boys, who seemingly had less of a say in their departure. Hopefully we get one last iconic “Weekend Update” character before Yang leaves for good.
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