{"id":97584,"date":"2025-08-28T01:17:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T01:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/97584\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T01:17:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T01:17:10","slug":"snl-cast-member-announces-theyve-been-axed-from-the-show-after-gut-punch-of-a-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/97584\/","title":{"rendered":"SNL cast member announces they\u2019ve been axed from the show after \u2018gut punch of a call\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Saturday Night Live<\/a> star Emil Wakim is the latest cast member to announce their departure from the show. <\/a><\/p>\n

The comedian, 27, joined the cast of SNL in 2024 for its 50th season<\/a>, often appearing in the \u201cWeekend Update\u201d segment or performing stand-up bits as himself or various characters. In one memorable December segment, he played Luigi Mangione, the man charged with the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson<\/a>. <\/p>\n

However, Wakim is now leaving SNL after only one season. \u201cI won\u2019t be returning to SNL next year. It was a gut-punch of a call to get, but I\u2019m so grateful for my time there,\u201d he wrote on Instagram Wednesday, while sharing some behind-the-scenes photos from the NBC set.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was at Six Flags celebrating my friend\u2019s 36th birthday and went on a really emotional walk through Bugs Bunny Park and stared out across Daffy Duck Lake thinking about life,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Wakim reflected on how \u201cinsane\u201d it was for him to \u201cscan into\u201d the 30 Rockefeller Plaza building in New York City for work this past year.<\/p>\n

\"EmilEmil Wakim says he\u2019s \u2018excited for whatever\u2019 comes next after \u2018SNL\u2019 departure (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the most terrifying, thrilling, and rewarding experience of my life, and I will miss it dearly and all the brilliant people that work there that made it feel like a home. Thank u to Lorne for taking a chance on me and changing my life,\u201d he wrote, referring to SNL creator Lorne Michaels. <\/p>\n

He concluded: \u201cI was so lucky to bring some of myself in there and say things I believed in, and I\u2019m excited for whatever chapter comes next. Here\u2019s to making more art without compromise. Onwards and upwards, love u, Emil.\u201d <\/p>\n

Days earlier, another SNL cast member, Devon Walker, announced his departure after three seasons. <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMe and baby broke up,\u201d Walker, who parodied celebrities and politicians, such as Michael Strahan and Tim Scott, on the comedy show, wrote on Instagram Monday. \u201cTo me, jobs in this industry feel like a bunch of little marriages. Some of \u2019em last for a long time, but most of them are fleeting. Permanent until they\u2019re not. That\u2019s the deal. You know what it is when you sign up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and the show did three years together, and sometimes it was really cool. Sometimes it was toxic as hell. But \u2026 we made the most of what it was, even amidst all the dysfunction. We made a f***ed up lil family.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In a separate Instagram Story, Walker added: \u201cJust to be clear, this is good news! It was just time for me to do something different. Please don\u2019t be hitting me with the \u2018I\u2019m so sorry\u2019 \u2014 we not on that at ALL. Sometimes mom and dad just don\u2019t see things eye to eye.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wakim and Walker\u2019s exits come after Michaels promised a major shake-up<\/a> ahead of Season 51, which is scheduled to premiere October 4.<\/p>\n

Michaels said he waited to announce cast departures because he was focused on \u201cpeople coming back and being part\u201d of the show\u2019s 50th season, and he didn\u2019t want \u201cdisruptions\u201d to \u201ctake the focus off\u201d that. \u201cAnd we had an election,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

However, this season, he feels \u201cthe pressure to reinvent,\u201d promising new cast members, including on the popular \u201cWeekend Update\u201d segment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-97584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}