Saturday Night Live fan favorite Bowen Yang announced on Instagram that he will be leaving the show after tonight’s episode, hosted by his Wicked co-star Ariana Grande.
“I loved working at SNL, and most of all I loved the people,” he wrote.
Yang went on to express his gratitude to the program and everyone involved.
“I’m grateful for all the time I spent there,” he said.
“Thank you Ali for sending me off in the most dreamy way I can imagine,” he later added.
The comedian joined the show as a writer during the 44th season in 2018. He was added to the cast in 2019, becoming the show’s first Asian cast member.
He quickly became one of the show’s breakout stars, appearing in multiple sketches per episode. His popular imitators included Congressman George Santos, photographer Fran Lebowitz, and “Brat” artist Charli XCX. He also cosplayed as the viral pygmy hippo, Mu Deng, and the iceberg that sank the Titanic.
“SNL” airs on NBC, a division of NBCUniversal, which is also the parent company of NBC News.
In a promo for Saturday’s episode posted on social media Thursday, Yang appears alongside music artist Cher and host Ariana Grande, with whom she worked on “Wicked.”
“SNL” reached a major milestone earlier this year with a star-studded 50th anniversary special, which aired on NBC and Peacock in February.
Lorne Michaels’ long-running sketch comedy show recently underwent another major shake-up, with several cast members leaving the show earlier this year, including Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, and Emil Wakim.
Yan, who co-hosts the popular podcast “Las Culturistas” with comedian and actor Matt Rogers, said he and Michaels discussed the possibility of leaving in September, but decided against it.
In an interview with People magazine in September, when asked about season 51, Yang said, “I’ve always acted on my instincts of, ‘Is there more to do?’ And that’s how I feel.” We talked about it, and Lorne was like, “You have better things to do.” That meant a lot, because I even confessed to him. I was like, “I feel like the audience is tired of me.” And he said, “That’s not true.” There is still work to be done. I need you. ”
At this year’s Emmy Awards in September, Michaels addressed the recent cast changes.
“This show has always attracted people of different ages and different generations, and this is a way to bring it back,” Michaels said in a red carpet interview. “It’s always hard when people leave, but it comes at a time, and our audience has always remained relatively young, but it’s gotten even younger on TikTok. Change is good, and we’re really excited about the people we’re bringing in.”
