Please Don't Destroy Reacted To The SNL Breakup In A Heartfelt And Hilarious Way That Involves Winnie The Pooh (And I Wouldn't Expect Anything Less)

Saturday Night Live showrunner Lorne Michael promised big Studio 8H shake ups earlier this summer, and now they have hit. Writers and cast members were cut, and now . The latest details have revolved around Please Don't Destroy splintering, with John Higgins departing, Martin Herlihy remaining as a writer, and Ben Marshall joining as the fifth featured player. Now, the trio is humorously sharing how they feel about the split, naturally involving Winnie the Pooh.

For those who need a little background, the trio met as students at NYU, and that's when Higgins, Herlihy and Marshall first formed Please Don’t Destroy in the late 2010’s. In 2021, SNL hired them on as writers and the trio found great success starring in their own pre-recorded sketches. During their time on NBC together, they made plenty of viral beloved SNL sketches, which, in turn made way for PDD's The Treasure of Foggy Mountain movie.

After four years of solid PDD content, the pals are breaking up ahead of SNL’s 51st season. John Higgins shared it was very difficult to leave, noting how great it was to work with his besties. He followed the confession of not returning to his regular 2025 TV schedule spot with some positivity. Here's what he wrote on Instagram, complete with the Winnie the Pooh reference:

It’s truly the end of an era! Even though they were collectively there for four years, their impact was large. Hanging around with stars ranging from 30 Rock vet Colin Jost to Oscar winner Rami Malek is nothing to brush off. Apparently, they even had a small part in Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s relationship.

Naturally, Higgins’ BFFs showed up to relay their feelings about missing their creative partner amid the news of cast members not returning to 51. It comes as no surprise that both Herlihy and Marshall had amusing takes to add. The former opened up by sharing in the love but then called out his peer for bashing the A.A. Milne character. Marshall was more succinct but shouted out their faux job for the Bohemian Rhapsody star:

• Martin Herlihy: "Love u so much my guy. ♥️♥️♥️ That being said, it’s not ok to fat shame Winnie the Pooh. Not in 2025, not ever. Period. I’m with him right now and he’s super upset. Dude, not cool. Got Piglet calling me and shit…. Man. Not cool. Call me IMMEDIATELY."
  
• Ben Marshall: "Love you forever brother. PDD and Rami’s assistant 4 life."

Similarly, the new featured player, Ben Marshall, posted a heartfelt caption with a collection of pictures on his own account. Along with the sweet words relating to their time as staff members, he promised they wouldn’t stop working together forever. PDD's tour is drumming on as normal and Portlanders will see them later this week:

Like Higgins’ IG profession, this is both wholesome and lol-worthy. Both collections and reflections are already really making me miss them as a group on SNL like the past four years. Marshall's now ex-Saturday Night Live collaborator showed up in his comments, with Higgins to make a humorous promise about watching:

What a perfect but realistic assurance of keeping tabs on his pals now that Higgins won’t have to abide by the hectic SNL schedule! Streaming it the next day with a Peacock subscription is the best way to make sure you don’t miss anything anyways, in my opinion.

Though I’m bummed to know Please Don’t Destroy is breaking up, I’m pleased to see that these funny boys are still going to be dear friends and connected in one way or another. Even if that means it’s via Winnie the Pooh quotes online for the foreseeable future. (As of this posting, Herlihy hasn’t shared a personal post.)