Posted 2 hours agoBowen Yang Broke His Silence About His Sudden "Saturday Night Live" Departure"i loved working at SNL, and most of all i loved the people."by Mychal ThompsonBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestLink Bowen Yang, one of the breakout stars of Saturday Night Live, is departing the series after the Dec. 20 Christmas episode. Stephanie Augello / Getty Images Bowen's final SNL episode (the ninth episode of Season 51) will be hosted by his Wicked: For Good co-star and friend, Ariana Grande; Cher is the musical guest. Nbc / Getty Images As the first-ever Chinese American SNL cast member, he joined the series in 2018 as a writer for its 44th season and became a featured player the following year, before becoming a mainstay for Season 47. Taylor Hill / Getty Images Bowen addressed his departure in the middle of his eighth season with a Dec. 20 Instagram post. "i loved working at SNL, and most of all i loved the people," he began. "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." Nbc / Getty Images "i'm grateful for every minute of my time there," he continued. "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." Jamie Mccarthy / Getty Images Bowen thanked every single person who showed up for him, including his SNL coworkers, the audiences, and the many hosts - giving a special shoutout to Ariana Grande for hosting his final episode. "thank you to ari for sending me off in the dreamiest way i could imagine," he said. Nbc / Getty Images "thank you to lorne for the job. for the standard. and for bringing everyone at work together," he added. "they all care deeply about people in the room, any room, enjoying themselves. i can't believe i was ever included in that." Nbc / Getty Images Bowen's exit shouldn't come as a huge shock, given that he told People in September that he had discussed his departure with the series creator, Lorne Michaels. "Lorne was like, 'You have more to do,' and that means a lot, because I even confessed to him... 'I feel the audience is maybe getting sick of me.' And he was like, 'That's not true. There's more for you to do. I need you." Nbc / Getty Images Bowen's departure arrives just months after the mass summer exodus following Season 50, which included Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker, and Emil Wakim. Nbc / Getty Images A mid-season departure for a cast member is uncommon, but it has happened in the past. Notably, it occurred in 2022 with Cecily Strong, in 2001 with Molly Shannon, in 1993 with Dana Carvey, in 1984 with Eddie Murphy, and in 1998 with Norm MacDonald, who was fired mid-season. NBC / Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images Aside from his involvement in the hit musical films Wicked and Wicked: For Good, and several upcoming films, Bowen is the co-host of the popular podcast Las Culturistas alongside Matt Rogers. Bruce Glikas / Getty Images Bowen's work on SNL has earned him Emmy nominations as a writer in 2019 and as a cast member in 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025. Nbc / Getty Images Do you have a favorite Bowen moment from Saturday Night Live, Las Culturistas, interviews, or his film projects? I'll go first: I think about Bowen as Dobby the House Elf from the Harry Potter series on a weekly basis. Nbc / Getty Images Share your favorite Bowen moments in the comments!