Bowen Yang comes out Saturday Night Live (SNL) is midway through its eighth season of the cult comedy show.
His last episode as a cast member will be this Saturday's episode, which he will host Wicked co-star Ariana Grande With Cher as a musical guest, Diversity Reports.
Ian, 35 years old, joined for the first time SNL as part of the writing staff in September 2018 ahead of the show's 44th season. A year later, he became a cast member on the show's 45th season.
The comedian hinted at leaving SNL for interviews with people back in April.
“WITH SNL“Like I said, it's a growing, living thing where new people come in and you kind of have to make way for them and grow and continue to improve yourself,” he said at the time. “And that inevitably requires me to sort of hang up the phone at some point – but I don't know what that vision is yet.”
Ian's work on SNL earned him Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025. It was also nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series in 2019.
Yang becomes the latest actor to leave the cast mid-season, following Cecily Strong. who left the show in December 2022 in the 48th season.
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The announcement of Ian's departure follows a major shake-up at the SNL stars revealing their departure from the popular series September.
Devon Walker spoke about his departure after three seasons in a post on Instagramwriting: “Me and the baby broke up.”
Walker's post was followed by the announcement that Ego Nwodim, Emile Wakim, Michael Longfellow and Heidi Gardner would also not be returning to the show.
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'Saturday Night LiveSeason 51 airs Saturdays at 11:30 pm ET on Global.
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