Is Bowen Yang Leaving SNL? Details on Midseason Shocker

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This is not a joking matter: Bowen Yang might be leaving Saturday Night Live.

Several sources say the comedian will leave the show after the December 20th episode. That episode will feature his “Wicked” co-star Ariana Grande as host and Cher as the musical guest. Neither the show’s representatives nor the comedian’s team have officially confirmed this news yet.

Bowen Yang is leaving Saturday Night Live, joining Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker, and Emil Wakim as cast members departing before the show’s 51st season.

TopMob News has reached out to reps for Yang and SNL for comment. 

Yang hinted in April that she would be leaving the comedy show, having joined it during its 45th season.

Yang shared in an interview with People that after reaching the milestone of being on the show for 50 seasons, she was realizing how wonderful life is outside of the series. She noticed many people, regardless of how long they’d been involved with the show, were happily focused on their families and enjoying life, and weren’t letting time diminish those positive experiences.

And with the show’s ever-changing cast, Yang referred to his own eventual departure. 

He explained that as new people join, it’s important to give them room to develop and succeed. This eventually means he’ll need to retire, though he hasn’t decided exactly when or how that will happen.

During his eight seasons on the show, Yang became a well-known and beloved cast member, famous for characters like ‘Garrett from Hinge’ and ‘the iceberg that sank the Titanic,’ plus his popular sketch, ‘Bowen’s Straight.’ He recently revealed that working on the show for so long had been draining, particularly while also performing as Pfannee in Wicked.

He explained to Vanity Fair last May that the experience physically affected him, to the point where he struggled to even move. It was incredibly stressful and started to take a real toll on his mental state.

Bowen is ending his time on SNL in a perfect way: with Cher as the host, someone he’s long admired. He told TopMob News back in 2022 that he’d jump at the chance to work with her.

For more beloved, departed SNL stars, keep reading…

Robert Downey Jr. was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1986, well before his success in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He joined the show the same year Lorne Michaels returned after a five-year absence, a period the SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night documentary described as a challenging time for the show, with Michaels trying to prevent cancellation. Downey Jr. himself admitted the season wasn’t a huge hit, but he remembers his time on SNL fondly, calling it “great training.” He even hosted the show in 1996 and told Howard Stern it was “probably the most exciting week you can have on Earth.”

Rob Riggle was a featured performer on Saturday Night Live from 2004 to 2005. The actor, known for his role in Let’s Be Cops, has shared how he successfully shifted his career path – originally training to be a pilot, he then focused his energy and intention on joining the cast of SNL.

He remembered never having quit anything before, so when he decided to make a change, he knew it had to be for something significant. He wrote down his goal – to get on Saturday Night Live – and remarkably, ten years later, after going through two wars, getting married, and having a child, he achieved it in September 2004. He believes writing things down and committing to them is key to making them happen. In fact, Saturday Night Live was how he started his career in show business. He later told The A.V. Club in 2023 that landing that first job on Saturday Night Live was a dream come true.

Ben Stiller was a featured performer on Saturday Night Live, but his time there was brief – only four episodes in 1989. He recalls that Lorne Michaels simply accepted his decision to leave, saying, “OK. Ben’s going to do what Ben’s going to do.” Stiller admits he struggled with live performance, getting too nervous and not enjoying the experience. He preferred making short films and was eager to pursue The Ben Stiller Show on MTV. While it had been a dream of his to be on SNL, he ultimately trusted his instincts and left. Despite his short tenure, Stiller has returned to Saturday Night Live a few times, hosting in 1998 and 2011 and making occasional surprise appearances.

Bob Odenkirk worked as a writer on Saturday Night Live from 1987 to 1995. He’s actually the one who wrote the iconic sketch featuring Chris Farley as Matt Foley, the motivational speaker who lived in a van.

Odenkirk remembers writing it alone in Chicago while performing with Second City. He said it was rare for a sketch to come out exactly as he envisioned it, and Farley took it to another level. He even won an Emmy for his writing on the show.

Looking back, Odenkirk regrets being arrogant during his time at SNL. He acknowledges he had a great opportunity and learned a lot about comedy writing, making lifelong friends, but wishes he had handled things with more humility. He wonders, as many do, if he could have been a better version of his younger self.

Laurie Metcalf’s time on Saturday Night Live was brief, consisting of two quick appearances. She first appeared in 1981 doing a segment where she interviewed people on the street, and then again in 1988 in a sketch called “Laurie Has a Story” alongside Catherine O’Hara. Metcalf remembers her first trip to New York being a whirlwind, and she felt unprepared for the experience. She was put in a suit and sent out with a small camera crew, feeling completely out of her element. Despite her naiveté, she went along with it, and footage exists to prove she did it! She recalls being both naïve and brave, simply saying “Okay, let’s go” when asked to perform.

Larry David worked as a writer on Saturday Night Live from 1984 to 1985, and his departure story is quite memorable. He explained on The Howard Stern Show that his sketches consistently did well during rehearsals but were repeatedly cut before airtime. Finally, after a sketch was cut just five minutes before the show began, he’d had enough. He confronted executive producer Dick Ebersol, telling him the show was terrible and announcing his immediate resignation with strong language.

As he walked home in the cold, Larry realized the financial consequences of his outburst and returned to work the following week as if nothing had happened. During a writers’ meeting, he casually suggested a circus sketch as if he hadn’t just quit. He ended up keeping his job for another year, and during that time, he met Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who would later star in Seinfeld, a show he co-created.

Over the years, Larry has hosted SNL twice and made numerous guest appearances, even playing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1982 to 1985, joining the show while still in college. Though she’s best known for Seinfeld and Veep, she hasn’t always spoken fondly of her time on SNL. She admitted to Andy Cohen that she didn’t enjoy it much, but it was a valuable learning experience. At 21, she felt naive going in, and she quickly gained a lot of knowledge about comedy. She compared SNL to ‘grad school’ and said it shaped her future career choices, helping her prioritize fun and creative fulfillment. She realized she preferred the improvisational style of her earlier work in Chicago and wanted to find that again. Despite her initial experience, Julia has returned to SNL several times, notably becoming the first former female cast member to host the show in 2006, and hosted two more times after that.

Damon Wayans was a featured performer on Saturday Night Live for a very short time in 1986 – he was fired after just seven shows. He explained in a 2020 interview that Lorne Michaels, the show’s creator, seemed to be trying to avoid comparisons between him and Eddie Murphy, who had recently left. Wayans wanted a chance to perform, but Michaels wasn’t giving him opportunities. So, during a live taping, Wayans intentionally changed his character – he played a very flamboyant gay police officer in a Miami Vice parody called Mr. Monopoly – hoping to get fired. Michaels obliged, firing him on the spot. Wayans later said Michaels was right to do so, as his intentions weren’t good. Interestingly, Michaels eventually invited Wayans back to host the show. Wayans believes that his experience on SNL ultimately led to the creation of In Living Color, as he was able to explore the comedic ideas he had while on SNL with his own show.

Jenny Slate was a featured performer on Saturday Night Live for one season, from 2009 to 2010, but she described her time there as disappointing. In a 2017 interview with Sam Jones on Off Camera, Slate explained that while everyone was kind, she felt unsuited to the show’s environment and was uncomfortable with how cautious it was. She had expected a more wild and improvisational atmosphere, like that of performers such as John Belushi and Gilda Radner.

Slate was ultimately let go after one season, which she found incredibly humiliating. She felt ashamed of her own behavior and mistakenly believed people would be more supportive. This experience led to stage fright and a temporary halt to her stand-up career. However, she sought hypnosis to overcome her fear and was determined to not let the negative experience extinguish her passion – something she does independently. She realized she wouldn’t allow one difficult experience to take away the one thing she loved to do on her own.

Sarah Silverman was a featured performer on Saturday Night Live from 1993 to 1994. Despite only being on the show for one season, she remembers it fondly. In a January 2025 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Silverman recalled enjoying her time with her castmates and being surprised by the sometimes-childish behavior of the adults around her, admitting there were even occasional fist fights. She described herself as ‘scrappy’ and ‘a kid’ at the time.

Silverman also shared a memorable, unusual activity she used to do in her office: she’d soak tampons in water and throw them at the wall, where they would stick and remain for a surprisingly long time. Years later, when she returned to SNL, producer Mike Shoemaker told her the tampon splatters were still on her office wall – a decade after she’d left!

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2025-12-19 22:18