‘SNL’ Cast Could See Mass Exodus Ahead of Season 51

Saturday Night Live might be going through major changes ahead of Season 51.

Following speculation that a handful of cast members could be leaving following the milestone 50^th season, SNL might be seeing a mass cast exodus.

The long-running variety sketch comedy will premiere its 51^st season on Saturday, Oct. 4, and as of now, there hasn’t been any news as to who is returning or who is leaving. Via TVLine, ahead of the new season, creator and producer Lorne Michaels told Puck News’ Matt Belloni what the plans are, confirming that he’s going to “shake things up.”

“Last season, when we were at the party of the first show, quarter of four in the morning, Dana [Carvey, who played Joe Biden] comes over to me and says, ‘I don’t think anyone knows you called me June 4th [to play Biden].’ I wanted people coming back and being part of [the 50th season],” Michaels explained. “So when Kate [McKinnon] hosted, Kristen [Wiig] and Maya [Rudolph] came back for it. And that meant there couldn’t be those kinds of disruptions [to the cast], or anything that was going to take the focus off [the 50th season]. And we had an election.”

Belloni asked if he felt pressure to “reinvent this season,” to which Michaels responded, “Yeah, for sure.” He continued, “It’ll be announced in a week or so.”

While he didn’t comment as to which cast members are safe and which are not, Michaels did reveal that James Austin Johnson will continue to impersonate President Donald Trump this fall. Season 51 will mark his third season as a repertory player and fifth overall season. This leaves, at the most, 19 cast members awaiting their fates. In May, there were seven cast members likely leaving after Season 50, including longtime Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che, Heidi Gardner, Mikey Day, Ego Nwodim, Chloe Fineman, and Bowen Yang, all of whom have been on for at least six seasons.

SNL changing up its cast is not new, but that doesn’t mean it won’t still sting when a handful of cast members leave before Season 51. The last cast exodus happened in 2022, with Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Pete Davidson, Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor, Chris Redd, and Aristotle Athari departing after Season 47. Since news on the Season 51 cast will be announced soon, fans will just have to brace themselves for what’s in store.