Bowen Yang was overcome with emotion during his final performance on “Saturday Night Live,” shedding tears as he concluded his last sketch after a notable seven-year tenure.

Yang initially joined the celebrated comedy show as a writer in 2018 and was promoted to the on-air cast the following year, making history as the first Chinese American to appear in the cast.

In 2021, the talented comedian achieved another significant milestone by becoming the first featured player to receive a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award.

The announcement of his departure, which came unexpectedly on Friday, left fans of the show in disbelief as it occurred in the middle of the season.

During his final sketch on Saturday, Yang was visibly emotional, breaking into tears while performing alongside Ariana Grande in a musical number.

In the sketch, Yang portrayed a Delta Sky Lounge employee. However, his dialogue subtly mirrored his own sentiments about leaving the iconic show, adding a poignant layer to his farewell performance.

Bowen Yang burst into tears as he performed his final sketch on his final episode of Saturday Night Live, after seven years on the program

As he broke character and began to cry, Yang said that ‘I just feel so lucky that I ever got to work here, and I just wanted to enjoy it for a little bit longer.’

He added: ‘Especially the people. I’ve loved every single person who works here, because they’ve done so much for me, especially my boss.’

His ‘boss’ in the sketch was not Lorne Michaels, the actual showrunner of Saturday Night Live, but rather Cher, who came onstage as ‘CEO of Eggnog at Delta.’ 

Yang went on, partially in character, that ‘any success I have after this will be thanks to this place. Before I go, do you have any feedback for me?’ 

‘Well, everyone thought you were a little bit too gay,’ Cher deadpanned, before sweetly adding: ‘But you know what? You’re perfect for me.’

She enveloped Yang in a warm hug and the pair returned to the song he had been singing with Grande before – Please Come Home for Christmas, a seasonal blues standard introduced in 1960 by Charles Brown, who also co-wrote it.

The embrace sent the audience into a round of: ‘Aww,’ and Yang began to cry again, saying: ‘This place will always be home, but ah, it’s time to go.’

When they concluded their rendition of the number, Grande gave Bowen a small kiss, a moment that one fan pointed out as ‘really sweet’ on social media.

When his last sketch came this Saturday, Yang could not help himself from lapsing into tears in the middle of a song with Ariana Grande

Yang was playing a Delta Sky Lounge employee, but as he said his lines about his job, it became clear they were a double-entendre for his feelings about the show 

As he broke character and began to cry, Yang said that ‘I just feel so lucky that I ever got to work here, and I just wanted to enjoy it for a little bit longer’

Fans reacted on X with tearful emoji and posts like: ‘Awww such a touching send off for Bowen Yang. So perfect to have Ariana and Cher serenade with him.’

‘We will miss you Bowen,’ wrote one viewer as another gushed: ‘stop bowen goodby sketch has me crying and of course his bestie ari wanted to be there with him i am so emotional stop.’ 

The morning after the news of his departure broke on Friday, Bowen took to Instagram to confirm his exit and share a heartfelt farewell with the SNL family.

‘I loved working at SNL, and most of all I loved the people,’ Bowen 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.’

‘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.’

Bowen Yang is finally speaking out after the shock announcement that he’s leaving Saturday Night Live

The morning after the news broke on Friday, Bowen took to Instagram to confirm his exit and share a heartfelt farewell with the SNL family

He added a long list of personal thank-yous: ‘Thank you to every single person who showed up there: friends and coworkers and audiences and hosts. Thank you Celeste, Sudi, Will, Alison, Julio, Fran, Drez, Bulla, Marty, John, Ben, Jimmy, Ceara, Deetch, Jake, Asha, Jack, Auguste, Tucker, Kent, Streeter, James, Alex, Jasmine, Gary, and Billy for writing with me. 

‘Thank you to every cast member for making me laugh and cry. To Liz and Don. Tom, Jodi, Louie, Eamon. Gena, Chris, Eddie. The crews, the pages. And to Audrey, Jameson, Cassandra and Chris for the fastest, funnest quick-changes in all of showbiz. 

‘Thank you to Ari for sending me off in the dreamiest way I could imagine.’

‘Thank you to Lorne for the job. For the standard. And for bringing everyone at work together. They all care deeply about people in the room, any room, enjoying themselves. I can’t believe I was ever included in that. The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready, but s-iiiiit, I hope I am.’

Yang joined SNL as a writer in 2018 before being promoted to the cast for Season 45. 

He earned repertory status ahead of Season 47, quickly becoming one of the show’s standout performers over seven seasons.

His departure follows a summer exodus after Season 50, which saw Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker, and Emil Wakim all leave the cast.

Bowen Yang is stepping away from SNL; (pictured September)

Yang will make his final appearance on Saturday’s episode, hosted by his Wicked co-star Ariana Grande with Cher as musical guest

Yang also becomes the latest midseason exit, following Cecily Strong’s surprise December 2022 departure during Season 48.

Molly Shannon, Dana Carvey and Eddie Murphy also left midseason. 

Though his exit comes after the cast turbulence, it’s not entirely unexpected. 

Yang has teased the possibility of leaving SNL over the past few months, leaving fans bracing for one final set of sketches from the beloved comedian. 

Back in September, Yang revealed he had a heart-to-heart with SNL creator Lorne Michaels about his future on the show.

‘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,’” Yang recalled to People. ‘And he was like, “That’s not true. There’s more for you to do. I need you.”‘

A source told the Daily Mail:’ Bowen was actually going to leave much earlier and almost didn’t do this season at all, but with all the attention that all the moves SNL did got, Lorne asked Bowen to stay on a little longer and Bowen obliged. 

‘Bowen is ready to do his own shows and more movies and more TV outside of SNL. And with Wicked’s success, now was the time to hit the ground running. Bowen hates the word bittersweet, but the whole situation is bittersweet and he is looking forward to this weekend being his swan song.’

Despite that reassurance, Yang has already missed several episodes this season. 

He notably skipped an October show to attend the Academy Museum gala in Los Angeles, where he accepted the Vantage Award.

His departure follows a summer exodus after Season 50, which saw Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker, and Emil Wakim all leave the cast

During his tenure, Yang earned critical acclaim, scoring Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025.

Outside of SNL, Yang is a major force in pop culture thanks to his hit podcast Las Culturistas, which he co-hosts with longtime friend and fellow comedian Matt Rogers.

He also starred on Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens from 2020 to 2023.

His résumé continues to grow on the big screen as well. 

In addition to Wicked and Wicked: For Good, Yang’s film credits include Fire Island (2022), Dicks: The Musical (2023), and the The Wedding Banquet (2025). 

Yang’s departure comes in the wake of the cast overhaul that wrapped up over the summer.

‘Lorne doesn’t have many more years he wants to do SNL,’ an insider exclusively told Daily Mail at the time. ‘He wants to make it funny again.’

Fans were quick to react when Gardner — a beloved cast member of eight years — was let go, following the departures of Longfellow, Wakim, Devon Walker. 

Heidi Gardner left the show after an impressive eight-season run (pictured in February)

Ego Nwodim’s exit announcement came just days after NBC appeared to finalize the cast list for the latest season, with her name still included

Nwodim’s exit announcement, meanwhile, came just days after NBC appeared to finalize the cast list for the upcoming season, with her name still included.

The current lineup features longtime favorite Kenan Thompson, Chloe Fineman, Mikey Day, and Weekend Update anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost, alongside Andrew Dismukes, Marcello Hernandez, James Austin Johnson, Sarah Sherman, Ashley Padilla, and Jane Wickline.

New faces joining the cast this season include Veronika Slowikowska, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, and Kam Patterson.

Meanwhile, the Please Don’t Destroy trio no longer appear onscreen together. 

Writer and occasional performer John Higgins has exited the show completely.

Ben Marshall has stepped out of the writers’ room to join the cast as a featured player, and Martin Herlihy remains on staff as a writer. 

The recent cast changes are said to partly be tied to plans for an SNL UK spinoff in 2026, with Lorne intent on keeping the original series as the benchmark for sketch comedy.

‘So these changes for Lorne are to see if he’s still got it,’ an insider told the Daily Mail. ‘And to make sure that SNL is funny and groundbreaking for years to come.’

Performers Emil Wakim (left), Michael Longfellow (right) and Devon Walker (center) also exited before the new season 

The source added that he ‘needs to add some gasoline to the fire, and even though there will still be familiar names, he wants to mix it up and bring in a brand-new set of cast members, because that adds to the fun of it all’.

While the process may feel cutthroat, the insider emphasized that upheavals like this are normal at SNL – though they haven’t happened on this scale in some time.

‘Lorne felt that he and the show had been on autopilot for a few years, and it is now time to be very funny again.’

He is said to want the series to take more risks and bring back some ‘grit’.