Bowen Yang to make mid-season exit from ‘Saturday Night Live’ cast

Posted On December 20, 2025December 20, 2025

Though usually a staple member of the Saturday Night Live cast, it has now been announced that Bowen Yang will be exiting the late-night show in the middle of his eighth season.

His last appearance as a cast member will take place on December 20th. Fittingly, the episode will be hosted by his Wicked co-star Ariana Grande. Cher will appear as a musical guest.

As per Variety, representatives for both Yang and Saturday Night Live have declined to comment on the sudden exit.

Yang’s career on SNL began during season four in 2018, when he joined the cast as a writer. A season later, he joined as a featured player; he was eventually promoted to join the main cast at the beginning of season 47.

Yang’s career on the show continued to blossom; his work earned him nominations for the supporting comedy actor Emmy in 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025.

After seven years, a mid-season exit is surprising. The last cast member to do so was Cecily Strong, who left the show in December 2022, partway through season 48.

Nonetheless, Yang had made his potential exit known over the last few months, admitting that he felt it was time to move on. He told People that, while discussing his exit with creator Lorne Michaels, Lorne insisted to him, “You have more to do.”

Yang added, “That means a lot, because I even confessed to him… ‘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’.”

Earlier this year, Yang admitted that he had issues with playing the likeness of US politician JD Vance. He confessed, “I have such an uphill battle here. Everyone in America is going to be like, ‘This Asian guy is playing that guy?’ I was like, ‘I really got to nail this down.’ And I’m just telling you guys, I’m doing my best, OK?”

It was announced on April 10th that SNL is looking to branch its influence across the Atlantic. A UK version of the comedy sketch show will air on Sky in 2026.

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