Heidi Gardner is exiting Saturday Night Live after eight seasons, according to multiple reports. The actress joined the late-night sketch show in 2017. Gardner, whose memorable characters include Bailey Gismert, a teenage film critic for “Weekend Update,” and Brie Bacardi, became the longest-tenured active female cast member during Season 50. The previous year, the Shrinking star appeared in more sketches than her fellow castmates.
Gardner’s departure was revealed hours after Variety confirmed that cast member Michael Longfellow, who joined the popular NBC sketch show in Season 48 as a featured player, would be exiting after three seasons. Longfellow was known for making memorable appearances on “Weekend Update” segments and joking about timely topics such as Real ID and TikTok. The touring stand-up comic has also appeared in the movie “Good Burger 2.” The news of his departure comes after LateNighter recently reported he was screen-tested as a “Weekend Update” host back in May.
From left, Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim and Devon Walker. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Will Heath/NBC)
The news comes one day after fellow cast member Emil Wakim announced in an Aug. 27 Instagram post that he’s leaving the show. “It was a gut punch of a call to get but i’m so grateful for my time there,” Wakim writes.
He joined SNL in 2024 as a featured player for Season 50. He described working on the show as “the most terrifying, thrilling, and rewarding experience of my life.”
In a December cold open of the show, Wakim played a “guy who happens to look like” Luigi Mangione, the man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The sketch was a reflection of the internet’s obsession with his looks. “I haven’t paid for a meal in Brooklyn in days,” Wakim’s character joked in the sketch.
Wakim at the SNL50 celebration in New York, Feb. 14. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Then, in April, Wakim appeared in a “Weekend Update” segment and joked about feeling guilty living in America. “I’m an American. In my bones I am, and I know we’re bad because my life is so good, there’s just no way it’s cruelty-free,” he quipped. “I love my life. I do. I just don’t want to know how it’s made.”
Longfellow is the latest cast member to announce his departure from the show, and likely won’t be the last.
SNL creator and producer Lorne Michaels gave a rare interview with Puck on Aug. 22, in which he indicated that several current cast members would be leaving the show before the next season starts. Michaels only confirmed that James Austin Johnson would be returning and continuing to play President Trump.
Cast shakeups are not uncommon between seasons of SNL. Ahead of last season’s Sept. 28, 2024, premiere, NBC announced that Kearney, Punkie Johnson and Chloe Troast would not be returning to the show, while Jane Wickline, Ashley Padilla and Emil Wakim would be joining the cast.
Other ‘Saturday Night Live’ departures ahead of Season 51
Wakim’s announcement came just two days after fellow cast member Devon Walker confirmed that he would be leaving prior to the show’s 51st season, which begins on Oct. 4.
“Me and the show did three years together, and sometimes it was really cool. Sometimes it was toxic as hell,” Walker wrote in an Instagram post on Aug. 25. “But we did what we made the most of what it was, even amidst all the dysfunction.”
Devon Walker spoofing TV personality Michael Strahan. (Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images)
Walker, whose background is in standup comedy, joined SNL in 2022, along with Marcello Hernandez, Michael Longfellow and Molly Kearney. He became known on the show for his celebrity impressions, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams, former NFL player and ABC host Michael Strahan and Golden State Warriors player Draymond Green.
In an Instagram Story posted alongside his announcement, Walker added, “Just to be clear, this is good news!! It was just time for me to do something different.”
Two SNL writers have also recently announced they are leaving the show.
Comedian Rosebud Baker, who has worked on the show’s “Weekend Update” team since February 2022, confirmed this week that she won’t be returning for the next season in an interview with LateNighter contributor Jon Schneider.
Prior to the announcement, Baker talked about how stressful it was to write for “Weekend Update” in the Aug. 11 episode of David Spade and Dana Carvey’s podcast, Fly on the Wall. Spade and Carvey are former SNL cast members who overlapped for three seasons in the ‘90s.
“It’s like training yourself to be a sociopath or a psychopath,” Baker said. “You just read these horrible, horrific headlines and you’re like, what’s funny [or] hilarious about this?”
Writer Celeste Yim also announced on Aug. 24 that they’ll be departing SNL after five seasons.
“Lorne hired me over the phone when I was 23 and the job literally made all my dreams come true BUT it was also grueling and I slept in my office every week,” Yim wrote on Instagram. “I hate when other people say this, but it’s true that I was the first ever out trans person to be a writer for SNL. I always felt honored to be working within the long tradition of queer writing at the show.”
Yim also thanked fellow cast member Bowen Yang for “changing my life and for making me feel normal.” Yang joined the writing staff in 2018 and became a cast member the following season.