An era has ended on Saturday Night Live with the departure of fan-favorite Bowen Yang, and those fans didn’t have long to prepare for his exit. The news broke that the final episode of the 2025 TV schedule would also be his last as a cast member just one day beforehand. Details were scarce at the time, and his social media statement didn’t yield details about why he was leaving SNL so abruptly after seven seasons. Now, an insider has made claims about some complicated reasons for the Wicked star’s decision.
Apparently, nobody wanted Bowen Yang to wrap up his time on NBC’s long-running sketch show. Per an inside source to Page Six, “everyone” tried to get the actor to stay at SNL, including Lorne Michaels himself. This comes after the creator reportedly “threw a ton of money” at Yang to keep him on board for the first half of Season 51, but the actor was said to be “not happy.” The reasoning behind his choice seems to be twofold, if the unnamed SNL source is to be believed.
The “grueling schedule” is said to be part of the motivation, which tracks with comments from veterans like Conan O’ Brien, who spoke about the “level of anxiety” of working at Saturday Night Live, and Andy Samberg, who opened up about how the work was “physically… taking a heavy toll on me,” and he felt like he “hadn’t slept in seven years.” The SNL insider claimed that “it was too much to do it all” for Bowen Yang when he also took on projects like his Las Culturistas podcast, an upcoming movie that he’s co-writing and co-starring in, and the Wicked films opposite Ariana Grande.
That’s reportedly not the full story, however. The outlet states that Bowen Yang was upset when longtime castmate Heidi Gardner was cut from SNL over the summer. At the time, rumors suggested that her contract hadn’t been renewed after eight seasons at the show, and Gardner was arguably the most shocking of several Saturday Night Live cast exits ahead of Season 51. Not long after the news broke, Bowen Yang praised his former castmate and friend as a writer as well as a cast member, describing her as “clearly so fucking funny” and a “true anchor on the show” during the COVID lockdown days.
None of this is to say that Bowen Yang left with bad blood behind him due to stress levels or Heidi Gardner’s ousting. The outlet’s SNL source stated that “everyone at the show is supportive of him and his decision,” although there was reportedly talk that his very last sketch ever might be cut instead of ending the episode. That ultimately didn’t happen, and Yang got to have an emotional on-screen exit opposite Wicked co-star Ariana Grande. Take a look:
With no bad blood seemingly behind him, fans can always hope that Yang will turn up as a guest or even future host. It’s never usual for a former cast member to appear in an episode here and there, and there’s definitely precedent for cast members to return as hosts. For now, though, you’ll have to use a Peacock subscription to revisit his full episodes of Saturday Night Live.
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