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Bowen Yang is opening up more about his decision to leave Saturday Night Live.
In a conversation with I Love LA actress Rachel Sennott for the June 8 episode of Variety and CNN's Actors on Actors series, the comedian discussed his mid-season departure from SNL in December 2025 after seven seasons and why it "felt like it was the right time" to exit the long-running sketch comedy show, per E! News.
The Las Culturistas podcast host explained that he felt "resolute" about leaving the show after its 50th season, feeling like it was "in a great place without me."
"I never felt like I was that central to it, to be honest," he said. "I feel like there was a weird utility to me. I never played the dad or the straight-man teacher. I was always there as the seasoning, and I'm like, 'That's great. I'm so lucky. I can't believe I have a steady job in comedy. I will cherish it for the rest of my life.'"
However, a call from SNL creator Lorne Michaels prior to the show's 51st season convinced him to return briefly to help shepherd in the new additions.
"And then Lorne called me while I was at the U.S. Open eating Coqodaq chicken," he recalled, "and he was like, "listen, you should come back. These are the people I've hired. It's a lot of new kids, and a lot of people left. You should be there to set an example for them, at least in the first half of the season. I'm telling you, it would be very important.'"
Yang continued, "It was the first time I felt someone who made so many things possible for me being like, 'I need you.' I'm like, 'I'm not going to turn that down."