Five-time Emmy nominee Bowen Yang will be leaving Saturday Night Live after this weekend’s episode, which is set to be hosted by his Wicked: For Good costar Ariana Grande.
The mid-season exit comes as a surprise, but is the latest in a string of departures for SNL’s 51st season. Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, John Higgins, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Emil Wakim all left before the premiere in October. The news of Yang’s departure was first reported by Vulture.
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Yang posted an emotional farewell message on Instagram on Saturday morning, ahead of his final show. “I loved working at SNL, and most of all I loved the people. I was there at a time when many things in the world started to seem futile, but working at 30 rock taught me the value in showing up anyway when people make it worthwhile,” he wrote in his post.
“I’m grateful for every minute of my time there. I learned about myself (bad with wigs). I learned about others (generous, vulnerable, hot). I learned that human error can be nothing but correct. I learned that comedy is mostly logistics and that it will usually fail until it doesn’t, which is the besssst.”
He went on to thank “every single person who showed up,” including friends, coworkers, audiences, hosts, cast members, writers, crew members, and pages and tonight’s host, Ariana Grande “for sending me off in the dreamiest way i could imagine” and to
His final thank you in his post was to executive producer Lorne Michaels “for the job, for the standard, and for bringing everyone at work together,” he wrote. “They all care deeply about people in the room, any room, enjoying themselves. I can’t believe i was ever included in that.”
He ended his post with a reference with Michaels’ famous quote that “the show doesn’t go on because it’s ready, it goes on because it’s 11:30.” Wrote Yang, “The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready, but sh—-t, I hope I am. ❤️🌃⌛️🎥”
Earlier this year, Yang spoke with People about life after the show. “SNL, it’s just this moving, living, breathing thing,” he said. “Especially after the 50th, I’m seeing what life after the show is like and how beautiful it is, and how so many people, no matter how long they were at the show, are just with their families and loving their lives and not letting the years take away any of that experience for them.”
If the timing seems familiar at all, that may be because long-time cast member Cecily Strong also left the show immediately after its Christmas episode in 2022. Other mid-season departures from the show including Norm MacDonald, Molly Shannon, Eddie Murphy, and Dana Carvey.
Yang has earned four Emmy nominations as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and one as a writer. He is the only performer in the ensemble to earn a nod since 2022, when he was nominated alongside Kate McKinnon.
Earlier this year, Yang appeared in the remake of The Wedding Banquet alongside Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone and Kelly Marie Tran and one episodes of the Prime Video series Overcompensating.
Updated 12/20 with Yang’s Instagram post.
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