SNL cast cancellation rumors had been circulating since last year, but fans were still shocked when their biggest fear came to life on the show’s season 47 finale. SNL stars Kate Mckinnon, Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, and Kyle Mooney left fans in tears and heads reeling with a sad news. The clues were all over social media, but reality still came with such a hard hit.
So now people are left wondering if more SNL veterans will leave the show soon, especially after the show has brought in a new breed of actors. These include Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Yang, and Chris Redd. This leaves us with one of the most burning questions: Is Kenan Thompson leaving SNL? Thompson’s own statements might leave us with one or more clues.
But before going deeper into SNL cast cancellation rumors, let’s take a look back at SNL’s four most beloved stars and find out why they finally decided to call it quits.
Kate McKinnon: “My body was tired.”
Is Kate McKinnon leaving Saturday Night Live? The answer to this question was finally confirmed and the decade-long SNL crowd fave talked more about it during her interview with Ryan Seacrest and Kelly Ripa on their show “Live with Kelly and Ryan.” When SNL cast cancellation rumors came around, Kate’s fans wished it never came true.
McKinnon said she thought about it for a very long time before she came up with her difficult decision. All she ever wanted to do was be on Saturday Night Live, and that’s exactly what she did. Her time spent on SNL was the best decade of her life. But eventually, her body grew tired.
The comedienne said she still didn’t know what to do with her career moving forward, and still gets emotional when watching SNL. Her final episode showed McKinnon in tears riding the alien’s spaceship while she bid farewell to a raving audience.
Pete Davidson: They were laughing at him, not with him.
Pete Davidson is among the SNL cast members who did not return for the show’s 48th season. Producer Lorne Michaels took him in when he was just 20 years old and enjoying his life as a stand-up comic. He thanked the producer for never giving up on him or judging him even when everyone else seemed to be doing so. Michaels believed in him and allowed him to have a place he was able to call home. Davidson quipped that his memories of the show would last him a lifetime.
He was not a sketch performer and knew he could never keep up or go head to head with Kenan Thompson or Kate McKinnon. Pete was terrified at what he could bring to such a respected and long-running show. So he decided to just be himself and the crowd loved him for it.
However, as time went by, he knew he was ready to leave the show when he felt he became the butt of the joke. Instead of laughing with him, people were laughing at him. When asked why he didn’t just tell them they can’t joke about Davidson’s personal life, he said he did not want to be a hypocrite. You cannot tell them what to do because that’s their show, that’s what they do.
Aidy Bryant: “10 Felt like a good and pleasant round number.”
Bryant said that if it wasn’t for COVID-19, she would have gone a few years prior. During her interview with Variety, it was such a big change when the pandemic hit on season 45. When she missed half of season 46 to shoot Hulu’s comedy Shrill, she decided to return. She kept looking for a final normal year. This year wasn’t exactly normal, but she felt that “10 felt like a good and pleasant round number.”
She is grateful to SNL producer Lorne Michaels and everyone she’s been with on the show. Bryant said she wouldn’t be here if not for them.
Kyle Mooney: Never quite fit into the mold.
Among all the SNL cast cancellation rumors that were going about, the one concerning Kyle Mooney was probably the expected one. Even if he was on the show for a substantial amount of time, his offbeat rumor style didn’t really fit into the mold of the pompous nature of the show as a whole.
Word has it that Kyle simply wanted to try other things. He wants his own platform to show off his own type of comedy, knowing deep down he didn’t really blend well with the rest of the SNL comics. Mooney is undeniably brilliant, and we look forward to his new material as he strikes out on his own.
Who is Leaving SNL After 2021?
After 19 seasons on Saturday Night Live, Kenan Thompson has probably seen and done it all. Overall, he has gone through a total of 1,500 sketches after Season 47. And after being on this show so long, you’d think he’s good and ready to say goodbye. But as he explained to ET, Kenan is not ready to do that just yet.
When asked if he too was leaving anytime soon, Thompson replied, “I mean, not that I know of. I know we are at least trying to get to the 50th, ’cause that’s gonna be a special year, you know what I mean? And after that, it’s like, I don’t know exactly how long I can do it.”
Another good news about the veteran comedian is on the horizon. Thompson is set to receive his very own Hollywood Walk of Fame star. The soon-to-be 2,728th recipient of the prestigious star, shared his excitement over social media, saying, “Woke up this morning to incredible news!! I’m getting a [star emoji] on The Hollywood Walk of Fame!!!! Shout to the entire class of 2022!!!! I’m completely humbled by this news!!! Thank you so very much to everyone who has enjoyed my work for the last almost 30 yrs!!”
Do you want to know the secret to how some SNL sketches blew up on TikTok? Read our article on the Most Followed TikTokers 2022 and start your own influencer journey!
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