Saturday Night time Reside solid member Devon Walker introduced he’s leaving the comedy collection after three years, forward of the favored NBC sketch present’s fifty-first season.
“Me and the present did three years collectively, and generally it was actually cool. Generally it was poisonous as hell,” Walker wrote in an Instagram submit on Aug. 25. “However we did what we made essentially the most of what it was, even amidst all of the dysfunction.”
Walker, whose background is in standup comedy, joined SNL in 2022, together with Marcello Hernandez, Michael Longfellow and Molly Kearney. He grew to become recognized on the present for his celeb impressions, together with New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams, former NFL participant and ABC host Michael Strahan and Golden State Warriors participant Draymond Inexperienced.
Devon Walker impersonating Michael Strahan within the “$100,000 Pyramid” sketch that aired on Sept. 28, 2024. (Will Heath/NBC through Getty Photos)
In an Instagram Story posted alongside his announcement, Walker added, “Simply to be clear, that is excellent news!! It was simply time for me to do one thing completely different.”
Walker is the newest SNL solid member to announce his departure from the weekly selection present forward of the subsequent season, which premieres on Oct. 4 — and he doubtless received’t be the final.
SNL creator and producer Lorne Michaels gave a uncommon interview with Puck on Aug. 22, wherein he indicated that a number of present solid members can be leaving the present earlier than the subsequent season begins. Michaels solely confirmed that James Austin Johnson can be returning and persevering with to play President Trump.
Solid shakeups are usually not unusual between seasons of SNL. Forward of final season’s Sept. 28, 2024, premiere, NBC introduced that Kearney, Punkie Johnson and Chloe Troast wouldn’t be returning to the present, whereas Jane Wickline, Ashley Padilla and Emil Wakim can be becoming a member of the solid.
Different ‘Saturday Night time Reside’ departures forward of Season 51
Two SNL writers have additionally just lately introduced they’re leaving the present.
Comic Rosebud Baker, who has labored on the present’s “Weekend Replace” workforce since February 2022, confirmed this week that she received’t be returning for the subsequent season in an interview with LateNighter contributor Jon Schneider.
Previous to the announcement, Baker talked about how aggravating it was to jot down for “Weekend Replace” within the Aug. 11 episode of David Spade and Dana Carvey’s podcast, Fly on the Wall. Spade and Carvey are former SNL solid members who overlapped for 3 seasons within the ‘90s.
“It’s like coaching your self to be a sociopath or a psychopath,” Baker mentioned. “You simply learn these horrible, horrific headlines and also you’re like, what’s humorous [or] hilarious about this?”
Author Celeste Yim additionally introduced on Aug. 24 that they’ll be departing SNL after 5 seasons.
“Lorne employed me over the cellphone once I was 23 and the job actually made all my goals come true BUT it was additionally grueling and I slept in my workplace each week,” Yim wrote on Instagram. “I hate when different folks say this, nevertheless it’s true that I used to be the primary ever out trans individual to be a author for SNL. I all the time felt honored to be working inside the lengthy custom of queer writing on the present.”
Yim additionally thanked fellow solid member Bowen Yang for “altering my life and for making me really feel regular.” Yang joined the writing workers in 2018 and have become a solid member the next season.
