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Bowen Yang, who has worked on huge projects for a year or two, will leave Saturday Night Live in the middle of the season after today's episode, which led him Wicked buddy, Ariana Grande.
He joined the series as a writer in 2018, became a lead the following season, and was promoted to the main cast two seasons after that. Ian was a fan favorite, earning five Emmy nominations over the years.
An SNL a representative would not comment Friday on Young's departure from the New York show. His representatives did not respond to email requests for comment.
In an Instagram post on Saturday, Ian wrote, “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 were starting to seem worthless, but working at 30 Rock taught me the value of showing up anyway when people make it worthwhile.”
Mid-season departures from SNL happened before. Cecily Strong did this in December 2022.
Ian, 35, appeared with Grande and musical guest Cher to promote Saturday's show and was left giddy by Grande after receiving a slap from the iconic artist. If I could turn back time singer who won an Oscar for Best Actress in 1988 for her role in sleepwalker.
The rumor of Young's departure comes after a mass cast exodus last summer ahead of the start of season 51 on October 4. Among them were Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker, Emil Wakim and John Higgins.
This is not the first time Ian mentions leaving
Yang has previously publicly discussed the idea of ​​leaving, telling People magazine in September that he had been mulling it over with Lorne Michaels, the Toronto-born creator of the NBC sketch comedy show. Ian received a vote of confidence from Michaels and decided to stay at that point.
Ian is the co-host of a pop culture podcast. Bodybuilders with his friend and fellow comedian Matt Rogers. Ian was in Wicked And Evil: For good and starred in Wedding banquet this year.
The son of Chinese immigrants, Yang was born in Australia and raised in Canada. He has American and Canadian citizenship.
Ian was a recent Esquire cover star. In an Oct. 28 interview that accompanied his cover shoot, he told the magazine, “There's a perception that everything I do is weird and Asian, but I don't think that's true. I'm tired of people reducing my work on the show to these identifiers.”
Work, he said, “is no longer the most important thing to me. I like to spend time with friends, work from time to time, and not be in a cage.”
