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Saturday Night Live fans were in for a shocker on Friday when it was announced that Bowen Yang would be departing the show.
Not only is he departing, but his departure is rather immediate, right at midseason.
Yang had been with the SNL for seven seasons. As People magazine reported, Yang became the first Chinese American cast member on the show and was one of the series’ very first openly gay cast members. He became the show’s first featured player to get nominated for an acting award in 2021 with his Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Is there a known reason why Bowen Yang is leaving ‘Saturday Night Live’
There is no clear reason why Bowen Yang is leaving the show. However, a few months ago he did say he felt as if it was not time yet for him to go, but did admit he thought the audience may be ready for him to go.
“I’ve always gone by the instinct of, do I have more to do? And I feel like I do,” he told People. “Even Sharronda Williams Lorne [Michaels] and I talked about it, and Lorne was like, ‘You have more to do,’ and that means a lot, because I even confessed to him. I was like, ‘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 also further praised Michaels, adding, “That man has changed my life, and I owe a lot of my life to that show,” Yang said. “And I love working there, the people are the best. I really love each of them so much.”
Then, he also said that SNL would never be a long-term thing, calling it “this growing, living thing where new people come in and you do have to sort of make way for them and to grow and to keep elevating themselves.”
He added, “That inevitably requires me to sort of hang it up at some point — but I don’t know what the vision is yet,”
When is Bowen Yang’s last episode of ‘Saturday Night Live’
His last episode is this Saturday, Dec. 20. His last episode just happens to be when his friend and Wicked co-star, Ariana Grande, will be the host. Cher is the musical guest.
