Another ‘SNL’ Shakeup Revealed Amidst Exits of 4 Cast Members

As Saturday Night Live’s cast continues to decrease ahead of Season 51, the writing staff seems to be getting the same treatment.

LateNighter reports that Rosebud Baker has exited the long-running variety sketch series after three years in the writers’ room.

Baker confirmed her departure on Monday to Jon Schneider, a contributor for the outlet and Saturday Night Network host. She joined SNL midway through Season 47 in February 2022 after appearing on HBO Max’s That Damn Michael Che. At the start of Season 50, she joined the Weekend Update writing team. Not long after news broke that she wouldn’t be returning for Season 51, Baker took to her Instagram to reveal that she’s going back on the road again this fall and winter for her stand-up for the first time in three years, and she seems more than excited for the possibilities.

Rosebud Baker has been making a name for herself in the comedy world. Her debut comedy special, Whiskey Fists, premiered in 2021 on Comedy Central, followed by her second comedy special, The Mother Lode, on Netflix in February. Before writing for SNL, she served as a writer on That Damn Michael Che in 2021, which earned her nominations for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy/Variety Sketch Series and the Balck Reel Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.

The comedian’s departure came just a day after fellow writer Celeste Yim announced they’d be leaving after five years. Yim joined in 2020 and was promoted to writing supervisor three years later. They were the first exit of Season 51 and kick-started what would be a mass exodus of both the cast and writers.

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“After five seasons, I’m leaving my job at Saturday Night Live,” they wrote on Instagram. “Lorne hired me over the phone when I was 23 and the job literally made all of my dreams come true BUT it was also grueling and I slept in my office every week BUT my friends helped me with everything BUT I got yelled at by random famous men BUT some famous girls too BUT I loved it and I laughed every day and it’s where I grew up.”

“Thank you to my family and friends who love me still, even though I did not see them very much. And thank you all for your support,” Yim continued. “For writing to me and for wearing my sketches as Halloween costumes. As a kid, I was addicted to SNL and to SNL writers… I try to imagine my younger self learning about me. I would be amazed. But then I’d be like… Wait, why are you dressed like that…”