Bowen Yang to Exit ‘Saturday Night Live’ After Ariana Grande-Hosted Episode: Reports

Bowen Yang is leaving Saturday Night Live after the Saturday, Dec. 20, episode, Variety and Deadline report. The episode — which is the long-running show’s last new one of the year — is set to be hosted by his Wicked costar Ariana Grande, with Cher as the musical guest.

Neither SNL nor the actor have confirmed the news. Billboard has reached out to the show and Yang’s reps.

Yang’s reported exit comes in the midst of season 51. He first joined the show in 2018 as a writer, before being promoted to a feature player in 2019 for season 45. By season 47, the breakout star — who stars as Pfannee in Wicked and Wicked: For Good — had become a full cast member. During his tenure on NBC’s hit late-night sketch show, Yang was nominated for multiple Primetime Emmy awards, including outstanding writing for a variety series in 2019, and outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series each year in 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025.

Some of his most notable characters on SNL include the iceberg that sank the Titanic, his portrayal of disgraced U.S. representative George Santos, viral baby hippo Moo Deng and Chinese trade representative Chen Biao.

Yang’s exit from the show is the latest of 2025. Ahead of the current season’s Oct. 4 premiere, Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, Michael Longfellow and Heidi Gardner all left. Shortly after the cast of season 51 was confirmed by multiple outlets, Ego Nwodim announced on Sept. 12 that she, too, would not be back.

Before the season premiered, show creator Lorne Michaels told Puck that he felt “pressure to reinvent this season.”

Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. on NBC, and streams the following day on Peacock.