Bowen Yang is reportedly leaving Saturday Night Live after the December 20 episode, hosted by Ariana Grande with Cher as the musical guest.
Bowen Yang may be quitting Saturday Night Live, and this is not a joke. According to several sources, the comedian is expected to leave the program after eight seasons after the next episode on December 20, which will include musical guest Cher and his Wicked co-star Ariana Grande. However, neither Yang nor SNL representatives have confirmed.
Yang's resignation comes after Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, and fellow powerhouses Ego Nwodim and Heidi Gardner left the program prior to its 51st season.
Reps for Yang and SNL have been contacted by news organizations for comment.
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Yang joined the ensemble of the comic variety show during its 45th season, but in April he hinted at a potential exit.
“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,” in a People interview at that point, Yang acknowledged, “and not letting the years take away any of that experience for them.”
Yang also alluded to his own potential exit due to the show's constantly shifting ensemble.
“New people come in, and you do have to sort of make way for them to grow and to keep elevating themselves,” he clarified. “And that inevitably requires me to sort of hang it up at some point—but I don’t know what the vision is yet.”
With roles like Garrett from Hinge, the iceberg that sank the Titanic, and his popular comedy Bowen's Straight, Yang established himself as a mainstay of the ensemble throughout his eight years on the show. He did admit, though, that his years on the show had worn him out, particularly during his time as Pfannee in Wicked.
“It really did get to me just on a somatic level. I was just like, ‘Wow, my body is refusing to lift an arm,’ or whatever,” in May of last year, he tells Vanity Fair. “It really got to that point that was a little mentally fraying.”
Fortunately, Bowen's final show will be a bit of a dream come true because, as he previously mentioned, Cher was his "dream" SNL host. "I would do anything with her," he told news outlets in 2022.
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