Tearful Bowen Yang Departs 'SNL' After Emotional Christmas Episode Hosted by Ariana Grande

New York — Bowen Yang, the boundary‑breaking comic who became the first Chinese American cast member on “Saturday Night Live”, said a tearful goodbye to Studio 8H during an emotional Christmas episode that doubled as his final show on December 20, 2025. The holiday broadcast, hosted by his “Wicked” co‑star Ariana Grande with Cher as musical guest, became a de facto tribute to one of the show’s most distinctive voices.

Yang’s departure, confirmed in a heartfelt Instagram post hours before airtime, ends a seven‑plus‑season tenure that reshaped representation on NBC’s long‑running sketch institution and arrives amid a broader period of transition for the series.

An On‑Air Farewell Wrapped in a Christmas Sketch

The show stopped just short of a formal on‑air tribute, but Yang’s exit was woven directly into the fabric of the episode. In a late‑show sketch, he played a weary airline lounge employee working his final shift on Christmas, a thinly veiled stand‑in for his own last night at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Joined by Grande and Cher, Yang broke into a rendition of “Please Come Home for Christmas” that dissolved into visible tears as his castmates gathered around him. Cher, playing his over‑the‑top boss, embraced him as the camera lingered on Yang’s face, capturing a rare moment when the line between character and performer blurred on live television.

In another emotional moment, longtime collaborator Aidy Bryant returned to reprise their viral “Trend Forecasters” bit on “Weekend Update,” a sketch that had helped cement Yang’s status as one of the show’s most inventive surrealists. Entertainment Weekly described Yang’s final broadcast as a “heartfelt and comedic farewell” framed by surprise appearances and musical performances built around him.

A History‑Making Run

Yang joined “SNL” as a writer in 2018 and was promoted to the on‑air cast the following year, becoming the show’s first Chinese American cast member and one of its first openly gay male performers. According to his official biography, he was elevated to featured player for Season 45 in 2019 and later to repertory status in Season 47, part of the ensemble that carried the show through its 50th anniversary season.

His hiring also represented a small but meaningful shift in a show that has historically struggled with diversity. A 2016 analysis of “SNL” hosting and casting found that roughly 90% of its hosts between 1975 and 2016 were white, with only about 1% of hosts categorized as Asian or “other”. Yang’s presence — as an effeminate, unabashedly queer Asian man — pushed the series to broaden who gets to be at the center of its jokes.

Over his time on the show, Yang became known for transforming unlikely premises into viral characters: a deadpan iceberg from “Titanic” doing damage control, a chaotic version of Rep. George Santos and a viral baby hippo named Moo Deng. His work earned him one Emmy nomination for writing and four more for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series over his run, according to Television Academy records.

A Midseason Exit in a Volatile Era for ‘SNL’

Yang’s exit is notable not only for its emotion but for its timing. He is leaving in the middle of Season 51, a move that remains rare in the show’s history. While midseason departures have happened — Cecily Strong left in December 2022 after 11 seasons — they are the exception for a series whose cast turnover typically happens between seasons.

NBC’s local affiliate in Chicago reported that Yang would depart after the December 20 episode, ending his eighth season on the show and following the exits of several cast members earlier in the fall, including Ego Nwodim and Heidi Gardner. The report framed his departure as part of a broader wave of changes reshaping the ensemble heading into 2026.

The churn comes at a pivotal moment for “SNL.” The show’s 50th and 51st seasons have coincided with a fragmented TV landscape and intensified competition from social media sketch formats. While “SNL” remains a cultural touchstone, its live ratings have slid from their 1990s peaks; the Season 47 premiere in 2021, for instance, drew about 4.9 million live and same‑day viewers, down from more than 8 million for the 2016 premiere at the height of the Trump era. Nielsen data cited by industry trade outlets show the series increasingly relying on delayed viewing and online clips to reach younger audiences.

Yang, meanwhile, departs at a moment when his career outside Studio 8H is accelerating. He co‑stars in Universal’s two‑part film adaptation of “Wicked” opposite Grande and has appeared in queer‑centered features including the romantic comedy “Fire Island” and the film “Bros.” He also co‑hosts the pop‑culture podcast “Las Culturistas,” which won Podcast of the Year at the 2023 iHeartPodcast Awards, highlighting a workload that has increasingly pulled him beyond late‑night TV.

Inside Yang’s Decision to Leave

In an Instagram message shared the morning of his final show, Yang wrote that he “loved working at SNL, and most of all I loved the people,” adding that he was “grateful for every minute” of his time there. His statement, quoted by outlets including the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, emphasized lessons in collaboration and failure: “I learned that comedy is mostly logistics and that it will usually fail until it doesn’t, which is the besssst.”

Yang has spoken openly in recent years about the toll of juggling the show with big‑screen commitments. In a 2023 interview, he described shuttling between London, where “Wicked” filmed, and New York for “SNL” tapings, a schedule that led to what he called a “mental breakdown” as he tried to meet both obligations without missing a show. The Washington Post reported that he flew from New York to London on Sundays, shot on Mondays and Tuesdays, then returned midweek to make it back for Saturday broadcasts, a pace he ultimately called unsustainable.

Ahead of Season 51, Yang said he had stayed on partly after encouragement from creator Lorne Michaels, who told him he “had more to do” at the show. But as his film slate expanded and “Las Culturistas” grew into a touring and televised franchise, industry watchers increasingly speculated that he would follow the path of other breakout “SNL” alumni who depart once outside opportunities begin to outpace the weekly grind of live sketch work.

What Yang Leaves Behind — and What’s Next for ‘SNL’

Yang’s exit leaves a noticeable gap in “SNL”’s bench of impressionists and in its queer and Asian representation on screen. During his tenure, he became one of only a handful of LGBTQ+ cast members across the show’s 50‑plus‑year history and the first of East Asian descent to hold a regular spot in the cast. Media scholars have argued that such visibility, especially in a mainstream, network‑television setting, can have outsized effects on public attitudes toward marginalized groups, particularly when characters are allowed to be more than one‑note stereotypes.

For “SNL,” Yang’s departure extends a period of recalibration that began even before its 50th anniversary season. In recent years, the show has seen the exit of high‑profile performers including Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong and Pete Davidson, forcing producers to lean more heavily on newer names while experimenting with format tweaks to maintain relevance with streaming‑first audiences. Variety has noted that the series’ future will depend on how effectively it can build breakout stars who resonate on both linear television and digital platforms.

NBC has already announced that “Saturday Night Live” will return from its holiday break on January 17, 2026, with actor Finn Wolfhard set to host and A$AP Rocky as musical guest, signaling that the show will move quickly to establish a post‑Yang identity even as clips from his final episode continue to circulate online.

A Farewell Measured in Laughter and Tears

If “SNL” tends to treat cast exits as just another part of the show’s perpetual motion, Bowen Yang’s final Christmas episode felt different. It worked like a soft‑focus retrospective without flashbacks: a last chance for him to sing, to play with old collaborators and to sneak genuine gratitude into character monologues about last days on the job.

For a performer who turned vulnerability and specificity into reliable punch lines — and who carried the weight of being a “first” on a show watched by millions — the sight of him crying under the stage lights, held by Cher and surrounded by colleagues, offered a fitting final image. It was a reminder that behind the wigs and precision‑timed cues is an artist who, for seven seasons, found ways to make his own story part of the joke, and, in doing so, changed the story of “Saturday Night Live” itself.