Saturday Night Live‘s Bowen Yang said goodbye to fans in the final sketch of the 51st season’s Christmas episode.
Yang played an employee at the JFK Delta One Lounge who was finishing his last-ever shift. It quickly became clear that Bowen wasn’t talking about the lounge, but the show itself.
“I’m gonna miss everything about this place. The way it smells, the celebrities who would come through. You know, just last week, Josh O’Connor was here,” Yang said.
Cast members like Kenan Thompson and Andrew Dismukes came on stage to wish Bowen the best.
“Thanks for everything,” Dismukes told Bowen. “And good luck.”
Host Ariana Grande appeared, playing Yang’s character’s loving wife, to wish him well, too. “I wouldn’t miss your last shift for the world,” she told him. “I can’t believe you’re retiring.”
“I just wanted to go out on top,” Yang said.
Grande’s character responded, “Oh, everyone knows you’re a bottom, honey.”
Cher also walked on stage and told a choked-up Yang, “Well, everyone thought you were a little bit too gay. But you know what? You’re perfect for me.”
Yang tearfully told the audience, “I just feel so lucky that I ever got to work here, and I just wanted to enjoy it for a little bit longer.”
“Especially the people,” Yang said. “I’ve loved every single person who works here. Because they’ve done so much for me.”
Yang announced his departure on his Instagram page Friday, writing that he “loved working at SNL and most of all I loved the people.”
“Thank you to every single person who showed up there: friends and coworkers and audiences and hosts,” Yang wrote. He also thanks showrunner Lorne Michaels, the show’s crew, and the costume department:
“[Thanks] to Audrey, Jameson, Cassandra, and Chris for the fastest, funnest quick-changes in all of showbiz,” Yang wrote.
Yang’s costumes, which ranged from the Iceberg Who Sank the Titanic to Jafar from Aladdin, made for some of the most eccentric sketches in the show’s history.
While many fans were stunned by Yang’s sudden mid-season departure, the move isn’t unprecedented. Cast member Cecily Strong left the show after 11 seasons in the 2022 Christmas episode. The cast sang goodbye to her in the episode’s poignant closing sketch.
Strong’s final episode showed her reprising her “Weekend Update” character Cathy Anne. This was mirrored by Yang’s own “Update” appearance this week, in which he returned alongside former cast member Aidy Bryant to play their Trend Forecaster duo one last time.
Yang was originally hired as a writer for SNL in 2018, then joined the cast one year later. Earlier this month, it was announced that Yang and his Las Culturistas podcast co-host Matt Rogers are writing a new movie for Searchlight Pictures, which they’ll also star in.
For Yang’s closing note on his farewell Instagram post, he wrote, “The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready, but s--t, I hope I am.”
