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Bowen Yang will be leaving the iconic sketch comedy show “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) midway through Season 8.
His final episode as a cast member will be this Saturday's episode, which will be hosted by his Wicked co-star Ariana Grande and feature musical guest Cher, Variety reports.
Yang, 35, first joined SNL as part of the writing staff in September 2018, ahead of the show's 44th season. A year later, he became a cast member on the show's 45th season.
The comedian teased his departure from SNL in an interview with People magazine in April.
“At SNL, like I said, it's a growing creature with new people coming in, and you have to make way for them and continue to grow and improve yourself,” he said at the time. “And it will inevitably have to call it off at some point. But we don't know what the vision is yet.”
For his work on SNL, Yan received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025. In 2019, it was also nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Variety Series.
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Yang becomes the latest cast member to leave the show mid-season, following Cecily Strong, who left the show in December 2022 during Season 48.
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Yang's exit announcement comes after a major shake-up in September, when several SNL stars revealed they were leaving the hit series.
Devon Walker addressed his departure after three seasons in an Instagram post, writing, “Me and my baby are broken up.”
Following Walker's post, it was announced that Ego Nwodim, Emil Wakim, Michael Longfellow, and Heidi Gardner would also not be returning to the show.
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“Saturday Night Live” Season 51 airs globally on Saturdays at 11:30 pm ET.
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