Bowen Yang Reflects On His Time At ‘SNL’ Following Surprise Departure
The SNL alum shared a message of appreciation after closing out his eight season run on the NBC series.
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Bowen Yang has officially departed Saturday Night Live following a surprise mid-season exit that aired during the December 20 episode of the long-running sketch series.
The episode, hosted by his Wicked co-star Ariana Grande with Cher as musical guest, marked his final appearance after eight seasons. Yang joined SNL as a writer in 2018 before becoming a featured player and later a repertory cast member. Over the years, he emerged as one of the show’s breakout performers, earning an Emmy nomination and going viral for characters including the Titanic iceberg on Weekend Update, a gay Oompa Loompa, Jafar, and politician George Santos. He was also the first Asian cast member in the show’s history.
His final episode included a sketch in which Yang played a Delta Lounge employee working his last shift. During the segment, Grande appeared and later joined him to sing “Please Come Home for Christmas,” with Cher joining them on stage for the closing moments of the performance.
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The day after the episode aired, Yang addressed his exit in an Instagram post featuring photos from his time on the show. “I loved working at SNL, and most of all I loved the people,” he wrote in the caption.
“I was there at a time when many things in the world started to seem futile, but working at 30 rock taught me the value in showing up anyway when people make it worthwhile.”
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“I’m grateful for every minute of my time there. I learned about myself (bad with wigs). I learned about others (generous, vulnerable, hot).”
He added, “I learned that human error can be nothing but correct. I learned that comedy is mostly logistics and that it will usually fail until it doesn’t, which is the besssst.”
Yang went on to thank fellow cast members, writers, crew, and longtime executive producer Lorne Michaels, though he did not cite a specific reason for leaving.
In previous interviews, Yang had spoken openly about considering life beyond the show. In a 2019 interview with People, he said, “I’ve always gone by the instinct of, do I have more to do? And I feel like I do.”
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He also shared details of conversations with Michaels. “Even [Lorne] 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.’”
Yang added at the time, “That man has changed my life, and I owe a lot of my life to that show. And I love working there, the people are the best. I really love each of them so much.”
Yang becomes one of several cast members to leave SNL mid-season, following Cecily Strong’s departure in December 2022. His exit also comes after a broader period of cast turnover following Season 50, which Michaels has publicly described as a natural part of the show’s evolution.
Outside of SNL, Yang has continued to expand his career. His screen credits include Fire Island, Bros, The Wedding Banquet, and the two Wicked films. He is also expected to appear in the upcoming animated Cat in the Hat film. In addition, Yang co-hosts the Las Culturistas podcast with Matt Rogers, which recently expanded into a televised awards event.
