Saturday Night Live EP Lorne Michaels promised a massive cast shakeup would occur ahead of Season 51, and that’s exactly what’s been playing out as of late. The past few days have seen several cast members exit the long-running series, including Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, Michael Longfellow and Heidi Gardner. Amidst the situation, fans haven’t held back their visceral reactions to the departures. Walker has seen the responses, and he had a humorously direct response to them.
The past week has seen one or two SNL cast exits reported per day, leaving fans to pay tribute to those who will no longer grace Studio 8H on a weekly basis. X has been flooded with responses from fans who are less than pleased with the moves. One person to react was a user named @divineintrvntin, who mourned the fact that their “boys” — Devon Walker and Michael Longfellow – would no longer be on the show. Walker, the first cast member confirmed to be leaving this year, reshared that post and dropped this assessment:
Y’all acting like we died lol. We just getting different jobs.
Such a comment is certainly on-brand for comedian Devon Walker, who was on Saturday Night Live for three seasons before exiting. While fans are certainly entitled to their feelings, Walker does make a funny and true point about some of the posts. The messages range in tone, but more than a few have seemingly been somewhat solemn. If anything, Walker’s post refers to a silver lining, which is the fact that even though he and his former co-stars are no longer on SNL, they still plan to work elsewhere.
In fairness, though, almost every year, SNL fans express dread over casting changes ahead of a season. Some offseasons for the show have been more brutal than others when it comes to casting, and that’s certainly been the case this year. Fans aren’t the only ones who’ve been weighing in either. Via social media, series alum Punkie Johnson provided some emotional reactions to seeing many of her former colleagues leave the show. Current cast member Bowen Yang also seemed to reference the situation via a post he shared about the “media ecosystem.”
On top of the cast changes, Saturday Night Live has also made a massive change behind the scenes. There’s been a major development involving Weekend Update, as writer Rosebud Baker will not be returning for Season 51 either. Baker confirmed the news while also announcing some stand-up comedy tour dates for the fall and winter.
What this all collectively amounts to is a massive creative shift for SNL, as its producers seek to keep everything fresh year to year. That’s understandable, though, it’s still wild to think that Michael Longfellow is out and that Emil Wakim won’t return to the show as well. Also, I certainly wouldn’t have had Heidi Gardner’s exit on my bingo card. Nevertheless, as fans continue to lament these developments, they might be served well to keep Devon Walker’s post in mind and remember that these actors are still around and aiming to work.
Saturday Night Live Season 51 premieres as part of the 2025 TV schedule on October 4 at 11:35 p.m. ET on NBC. It’ll also be available to stream using a Peacock subscription.
