Bowen Yang Addresses ‘SNL’ Exit

One of Saturday Night Live‘s biggest names unexpectedly left the series this past weekend, and now he’s speaking out about it.

In last week’s SNL episode hosted by his Wicked: For Good co-star Ariana Grande, Bowen Yang made an appearance on the series for the final time.

“I just feel so lucky that I ever got to work here. And I just wanted to enjoy it for a little bit longer. Especially the people. I’ve loved every single person who works here. Because they’ve done so much for me, especially my boss,” he joked in his final sketch. The ‘boss’ in question turned out to be musical guest Cher, who responded, “Everyone thought you were a little too gay. But you know what? You’re perfect for me.”

Yang has been with the series for eight seasons, starting in 2018 with season 44. Since then, he has become one of the show’s biggest stars.

In a heartfelt Instagram post, he delivered a touching goodbye to his cast and crew.

“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,” he wrote.

He continued to thank various “friends and coworkers and hosts,” including “celeste, sudi, will, alison, julio, fran, drez, bulla, marty, john, ben, jimmy, ceara, deetch, jake, asha, jack, auguste, tucker, kent, streeter, james, alex, jasmine, gary, and billy,” then “the crews, the pages,” and finally thanked SNL creator Lorne Michaels for “the job. 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.”

“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,” he continued. “the show doesn’t go on because it’s ready, but s-iiiiit, i hope i am.”

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