Bowen Yang Finally Broke His Silence About His Sudden ‘Saturday Night Live’ Mid-Season Exit

• Several outlets reported on December 19 that Bowen Yang will be leaving Saturday Night Live after eight seasons on the show.
• Bowen broke his silence about his mid-season exit with a heartfelt post shared to his Instagram.
• His last appearance on the show will take place on December 20, with Ariana Grande as host and Cher as the musical guest.

Bowen Yang shocked everyone earlier this week when news of his sudden mid-season departure from Saturday Night Live made waves. The comedian, who spent a total of eight seasons on the show (one as a writer, seven as a cast member), broke his silence about his exit and gave a heartfelt goodbye to several of the castmates that he worked with during his tenure via Instagram on December 20.

“I loved working at SNL, and most of all I loved the people. I was there at a time when many things in the world started to seem futile, but working at 30 rock taught me the value in showing up anyway when people make it worthwhile,” his post—which featured several photos of him and his castmates, as well as moments from skits throughout the years— began.

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He continued, “I’m grateful for every minute of my time there. I learned about myself (bad with wigs). I learned about others (generous, vulnerable, hot). I learned that human error can be nothing but correct. I learned that comedy is mostly logistics and that it will usually fail until it doesn’t, which is the besssst.”

In addition to naming every member in the cast that he shared a stage (and backstage moments) with, he also took a brief moment to give a shoutout to Ariana Grande—his friend and Wicked co-star—who is hosting the December 20 episode of the show for the third time: “Thank you to Ari for sending me off in the dreamiest way I could imagine.” (Cher will serve as the December 20 musical guest.)

He concluded his emotional farewell with a thank you to SNL creator, Lorne Michaels “for the standard. And for bringing everyone at work together. They all care deeply about people in the room, any room, enjoying themselves. I can’t believe I was ever included in that. The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready, but shiiiiit, I hope I am.”

Bowen—who made history as the first Asian SNL cast member when he joined the show in September 2019—didn't explicitly state why he's leaving the show mid-season, but previously told People in September of this year that he felt he had more to offer beyond his work on SNL.

“I’ve always gone by the instinct of, do I have more to do? And I feel like I do,” he told the outlet following several of the show's cast members exiting after season 50. “Even Lorne [Michaels] and I talked about it, and Lorne was like, ‘You have more to do,’ and that means a lot, because I even confessed to him, I was like, ‘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.’”

Bowen continued, “I have to honor that. That man has changed my life, and I owe a lot of my life to that show. And I love working there, the people are the best. I really love each of them so much.”