SNL Cast Exits Portend Big Changes for Historic Season 50
Saturday Night Live had two cast members announce their departure this week, as Molly Kearney joined Punkie Johnson in revealing they will not be returning for the show’s upcoming 50th season.
Cast members are typically signed to seven-year contracts that can be broken by SNL, but not the performer, meaning that Kearney and Johnson were almost certainly let go by executive producer Lorne Michaels ahead of what is expected to be a super-sized 50th season. There has not yet been any news about new cast members joining the show, but fans can expect those announcements in the coming weeks ahead of the season premiere on September 28.
Kearney, who became the show’s first nonbinary cast member in 2022, announced their exit just after Johnson, who was the show’s first out Black female queer cast member. Kearney called her two seasons on the show “a dream come true” in their Instagram post.