I Was Bummed Emil Wakim Was Let Go From SNL, And I’m Really Going To Miss His Middle Eastern Perspective

As Season 51 of Saturday Night Live approaches in the 2025 TV schedule this October, Lorne Michaels teased some cast shakeups (including a rumor about Weekend Update changing). This week, there’s been a lot of developments in this regard. Devon Walker announced her exit on Monday before we also learned that writer Rosebud Baker would not be returning along with Celeste Yim. Now that Emil Wakim is the latest cast member to be cut, I need to talk about his time on the show.

Emil Wakim Has Been Let Go From SNL After One Season

On Wednesday, August 27, Emil Wakim shared that he had received the “gut punch of a call” that he’d been kicked off the cast while celebrating his friend’s 36th birthday at Six Flags. While we don’t know exactly why, it seems to be part of the show’s bloodbath of cuts. You can check out Wakim’s goodbye post below:

I sat up when Emil Wakim was cast on Saturday Night Live because he’s the first comic of Lebanese heritage to ever be in the ensemble, and half of my family is Lebanese. Our backgrounds are actually similar because he has an immigrant father from Lebanon and a white mother. His casting really revitalized some interest for me in the show that has certainly become more diverse in recent years, but had yet to really have a distinct Middle Eastern voice among its cast.

The Cast Member Started Some Great Conversations About The Middle Eastern Experience On SNL That Will Be Missed

I think the highlight of Emil Wakim’s time on SNL was when he joined Weekend Update to share his own perspective as the son of an Arab immigrant. His most popular moment on YouTube included his thoughts on voting in the 2024 election. In the segment, Wakim talked about what it’s like to be in the Arab Christian category (rather than Arab Muslim), joking that the group is like “Black dudes with Anime backpacks” and such.

My favorite has to be his take on American Patriotism, where he hilariously talked about the minor inconvenience of when you “see the UberEats delivery driver.” You can watch it below:

Weekend Update: Emil Wakim on American Patriotism - SNL - YouTube

Watch On

While I’ll admit Wakim had clearly not yet become the star of SNL, I think he started some really refreshing conversations from the perspective of an Arab American who was born and raised in the U.S. that we just don’t get to see too often on a mainstream stage, and were accessible to people of any walk of life. Sure, I’ve found some more movies and TV shows about Arab-Americans lately like Rami or Mo, but it still feels like representation for the Arab American perspective is still very much lacking, especially when it comes to comedies.

Our community still has a long history of being stigmatized and shown in a negative light, and artists like Emil Wakim are important for exposing the public to more palpable examples of what it’s like to be an Arab American in 2025. I’m of course optimistic that Emil Wakim will continue to thrive as a standup comedian, and perhaps bring his unique perspective to his own TV show or movie at some point. I was really just hoping he’d have a longer stint on SNL, and I'm sad to see him go so soon.