Bowen Yang is reportedly leaving Saturday Night Live, with multiple outlets, including Variety, confirming that his departure is expected to take place immediately after this week’s episode. The installment, airing Saturday night, will be hosted by Yang’s Wicked co-star Ariana Grande, with Cher serving as the musical guest — a high-profile sendoff for one of the show’s most influential recent cast members.
Yang joined SNL as a writer in 2018 before being promoted to on-screen cast member in 2019. Representatives for both Yang and NBC’s long-running sketch series have declined to comment on the reports.
His exit comes amid a period of significant transition for the show. Earlier this year, Heidi Gardner, Devon Walker, Ego Nwodim and Michael Longfellow all departed the cast, signaling one of the largest shakeups in recent seasons.
In an interview with People magazine in April, Yang openly acknowledged that he did not envision himself staying on SNL indefinitely.
“SNL is this moving, living, breathing thing,” he said. “Especially after the 50th, I’m seeing what life after the show is like and how beautiful it is — how people leave and are with their families and loving their lives without losing any of what the experience gave them.”
Yang also reflected on conversations he had with SNL creator Lorne Michaels about his future. In a September interview, he recalled expressing doubts about whether audiences were growing tired of him.
“Lorne was like, ‘You have more to do,’” Yang said. “That meant a lot. I even confessed to him, ‘I feel the audience is maybe getting sick of me.’ And he said, ‘That’s not true. There’s more for you to do. I need you.’”
At the time, Yang said it was important for him to honor that encouragement.
“That man changed my life,” he said. “I owe so much of my life to that show. I love working there, and I love the people — truly.”
Yang’s run on Saturday Night Live was historic. In 2021, he became the first featured player in the show’s history to receive an Emmy nomination, later earning another nomination as a repertory cast member in 2022. He is also SNL’s first Chinese American cast member, a milestone that cemented his place in the show’s legacy.
Beyond Studio 8H, Yang has built a thriving career across comedy, film and podcasting. He co-hosts the popular podcast Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers, which expanded into a tongue-in-cheek awards show that aired on Bravo in 2025 and is set to return in 2026. On screen, Yang appeared in the film musicals Wicked and Wicked: For Good, the latter released in November, and reunited with Rogers in an episode of Prime Video’s comedy Overcompensating.
If confirmed, Yang’s departure would mark the end of a defining chapter for Saturday Night Live — and the beginning of a new phase for one of comedy’s most distinctive voices.