Tearful Bowen Yang departs 'SNL' after emotional Christmas episode
hosted by Ariana Grande
[December 22, 2025]
NEW YORK (AP) — Bowen Yang bid an emotional farewell to “Saturday Night
Live” with music, laughter and help from his “Wicked” buddy Ariana
Grande.
Yang starred in the night's final sketch, playing a retiring airport
lounge worker working his final shift on Christmas Eve, serving eggnog
to travelers. He sang “Please Come Home for Christmas” and was joined by
Grande, the night's host, and Cher, its musical guest. The women joined
Yang in song and hugged him.
The sketch gave Yang a chance to say goodbye to some castmates — he
delightfully sprayed Kenan Thompson with eggnog — and its premise gave a
chance for Yang to deliver lines about moving on. “I just wanted to
enjoy it for a little longer,” an emotional Yang said. By the end of the
performance, he was in tears.
The show closed with a brief photo tribute to slain director Rob Reiner
and the cast curtain call.
“We love you so much,” Grande told Yang, who was a constant presence
throughout Saturday's show and drew huge applause with each appearance.
Yang joined the show as a writer in 2018, became a featured player the
following season and was promoted to the main cast two seasons after
that. Yang was a fan favorite with five Emmy nominations over the years.
In an Instagram post Saturday, Yang wrote: “i loved working at SNL, and
most of all i loved the people. 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.”
Yang, coming off a huge year or two of projects, departed “SNL”
mid-season.
Grande helped kick off Saturday’s show with a parody of “All I Want for
Christmas is You” about buying gifts for people you barely know during
her opening monologue. Yang slid onto the stage to huge cheers and
helped her complete the song.
The friends appeared together often during the show, including a dance
class sketch and a pre-recorded “Home Alone” sketch in which the
McCallister family meet violent ends from Kevin’s leftover traps.
Word of Yang's departure came after a major exodus of cast members last
summer ahead Season 51's start. They included Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner,
Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker, Emil Wakim and John Higgins.
The news wasn't entirely a surprise. Yang had publicly discussed the
idea, telling People in September he had mulled it over with the NBC
sketch comedy show's creator Lorne Michaels. He got a vote of confidence
from Michaels and decided to stay at that time.
“Lorne was like, ‘You have more to do,’ and that means a lot, because I
even confessed to him. I was like, ‘I feel the audience is maybe getting
sick of me.’ And he was like, ‘That’s not true. There’s more for you to
do. I need you,’” Yang said.
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Bowen Yang attends The Museum Gala at the American Museum of Natural
History on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan
Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
 Of Michaels, Yang added: “That man
has changed my life, and I owe a lot of my life to that show. And I
love working there. The people are the best. I really love each of
them so much.”
In addition to “SNL,” Yang co-hosts the pop culture podcast “Las
Culturistas” with his friend and fellow comedian Matt Rogers. He was
in “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good” as Pfannee and co-starred in the
remade “The Wedding Banquet” this year.
In 2023, he appeared in “Dicks: The Musical” and “Fire Island” the
year before that. He also co-starred in “Awkwafina is Nora from
Queens” from 2020 to 2023.
Yang and Rogers hosted the spoof Las Culturista Culture Awards on
Bravo last summer. Yang posted on Instagram that the two will be
back for more pop culture comedy on the awards next year.
Mid-season departures from “SNL” are not unprecedented. Cecily
Strong did it in December 2022.
Among the bits that earned Yang breakout status was his turn as the
Titanic iceberg on the recurring “Weekend Update” segment, his
favorite place on the show, according to an October interview with
Esquire. He also played George Santos, a straight man who hooks up
with Gina Gershon and Sydney Sweeney, and a gay Oompa Loompa. And he
spoofed Vice President JD Vance.
Yang made a final “Weekend Update” appearance alongside former “SNL”
cast member Aidy Bryant, playing characters who offered viewers tips
on what trends are in and which are out for the holidays and 2026.
Yang, the son of Chinese immigrants, was Esquire's recent cover
star. In an Oct. 28 interview accompanying his cover shoot, he told
the magazine: “There’s an idea that all of what I do is queer and
Asian, which I don’t think is true. I get sick of people reducing
the work I do on the show to those identifiers.”
Work, he said, “is not the most meaningful thing for me anymore. The
things I like are spending time with friends, working every now and
then, not being caged by it.”
Yang noted some advice he once received from Kristen Wiig when she
hosted “SNL.”
“She was like, ‘Have fun. It’s the most fun job in the world, and
you’ll miss it when it’s done. You won’t realize how much you miss
it until you leave.’”
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