Yahoo News Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon Among Those Leaving ‘Saturday Night Live’
Pete Davidson is leaving Studio 8H.
The comedian is poised to sign off for good from NBC’s Saturday Night Live, where he has been a staple for the past eight seasons after joining the Lorne Michaels sketch comedy as one of its youngest-ever castmembers. Castmembers Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney are also expected to announce their departure alongside Davidson during SNL’s season 47 finale, to be hosted by Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll) and featuring musical guest Japanese Breakfast.
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The news comes days after Davidson graced the stage at NBCUniversal’s upfront presentation to Madison Avenue ad buyers to introduce his new Peacock comedy, Bupkis. The series, inspired by his life, is exec produced by Michaels and the SNL mastermind’s NBCUniversal-based Broadway Video.
Reps for NBC and Saturday Night Live did not immediately respond to THR’s request for comment.
SNL has always cycled through top talent during its long run as many of its breakouts moved on to other projects. In recent years, however, Michaels has shown an increased willingness to allow time away from the sketch comedy for his in-demand stars to do other projects — many of which he also produces.
Davidson, who joined SNL at the age of 20 as a relative unknown, has become one of its biggest stars and an internet favorite. (He’s currently dating Kim Kardashian, after the social media star and influencer hosted SNL.) Davidson has used his status as an SNL favorite to grow his career with the likes of the semi-autobiographical feature The King of Staten Island.
SNL typically confirms cast departures and new additions during the summer or early fall ahead of its upcoming seasons. In recent years, speculation has centered on the status of McKinnon, Kenan Thompson, Cecily Strong and Bryant. It’s worth noting that Thompson, SNL’s longest-tenured castmember, recently teamed with Michaels on NBC’s Kenan, which was just canceled after a couple seasons. Bryant, too, worked with Michaels on Hulu’s recently concluded Shrill, while the SNL boss also exec produces Strong’s Apple TV+ comedy Schmigadoon.
McKinnon, a multiple Emmy winner for her work on SNL, joined the cast alongside Bryant in 2012. Mooney has been with SNL since 2013.
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