An era has ended on Saturday Night Live with the departure of fan-favorite Bowen Yang, and those fans didn’t have long to prepare for his exit. The news broke that the final episode of the 2025 TV schedule would also be his last as a cast member just one day beforehand. Details were scarce at the time, and his social media statement didn’t yield details about why he was leaving SNL so abruptly after seven seasons. Now, an insider has made claims about some complicated reasons for the Wicked star’s decision.
Apparently, nobody wanted Bowen Yang to wrap up his time on NBC’s long-running sketch show. Per an inside source to Page Six, “everyone” tried to get the actor to stay at SNL, including Lorne Michaels himself. This comes after the creator reportedly “threw a ton of money” at Yang to keep him on board for the first half of Season 51, but the actor was said to be “not happy.” The reasoning behind his choice seems to be twofold, if the unnamed SNL source is to be believed.
