Bowen Yang is exiting Saturday Night Live

The time has come for Bowen Yang to wave goodbye to his gig on Saturday Night Live. After months of deliberation, Yang will leave the sketch variety show midseason, during the Christmas break, after tomorrow night’s show. Yang’s Wicked co-star Ariana Grande will host his final show, which includes a musical performance by Cher.

Yang on SNL creator Lorne Michaels supporting his decision

Yang’s been with Saturday Night Live since 2018, when he joined the comedy institution as a writer ahead of Season 44. He joined the cast ahead of Season 45, before becoming a featured player ahead of Season 47. According to Yang, he’s thought about leaving SNL for the past few months. He even discussed his exit with SNL creator Lorne Michaels, who, despite remaining supportive of Yang’s decision, thinks the comedian has more to offer the show. In September, Yang spoke with People about his conversation with Michaels, saying, “Lorne was like, ‘You have more to do,’ and that means a lot, because I even confessed to him… ‘I feel the audience is maybe getting sick of me.’ And he was like, ‘That’s not true. There’s more for you to do. I need you’,” he said.

Yang’s been making moves in Hollywood

Looking at Yang’s track record, it’s easy to see why he might want to move on from Saturday Night Live. He was the first featured player to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy, in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category, and his Hollywood presence is only increasing. In addition to his roles in the 2022 comedy Bros and Andrew Ahn’s Fire Island, he plays Pfannee alongside Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Wicked and this year’s Wicked: For Good.

Michaels on losing several SNL cast members after Season 50

Several members of the Saturday Night Live cast exited the program after Season 50, including Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker, and Emil Wakim. Lorne Michaels spoke about losing a chunk of the cast after their departures, saying, “Change is good.” “The show has always brought people in from different ages and different generations and it’s how it revives itself,” Michaels told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s always hard when people leave but there’s a time for that and our audiences always stayed relatively young and more so now with Tik Tok, and change is good. And the people we’re bringing in I’m really excited about.”

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