Lots of comedians have been fired from "Saturday Night Live."
But only one got almost the entire cast canned, with a four-letter slip.
Nasim Pedrad joined "Saturday Night Live" at the start of the 2009 season, making "SNL"
history as the first Iranian-born cast member, and exited after five seasons.
It didn't take her long to find work.
Immediately after leaving the show in 2014, she was cast in "Mulaney," a Fox sitcom created
by and starring former "SNL" writer John Mulaney.
During an appearance at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that year, Pedrad
explained her decision to quit "SNL."
"Obviously there's nothing like that show and I was lucky to be there for five years.
At some point you have to leave, and I can't think of a better reason to leave than for
this particular show and this particular cast."
Despite the talent involved, "Mulaney" was trashed by TV critics and was canceled after
one season.
Pedrad, however, has remained a hot commodity in television and film, appearing in
Disney's live-action remake of "Aladdin," and starring in the quirky TV comedy "Chad,"
where she plays a 14-year-old boy.
Taran Killam was hired by "SNL" in 2010.
In 2016, his contract wasn't renewed.
The actor told Uproxx that his firing came as a surprise.
"You sign for seven years, so I had one more year.
I had sort of had it in my head I would make this upcoming year my last year, but then
heard they weren't going to pick up my contract.
I was never given a reason why, really."
He later told the "I Was There Too" podcast that the environment at "SNL" changed for
the worse after the departure of Seth Meyers in 2014.
"When Seth Meyers left the show, the dynamic changed quite a bit.
He was the last person there who I witnessed really collaborate with Lorne, as opposed
to just kind of do what Lorne says."
Since leaving, Killam has kept busy with several film projects, including "Killing Gunther"
which he wrote and directed, and which starred the legendary Arnold Schwarzeneggar.
He also starred in the ABC sitcom "Single Parents," which ran from 2018 until 2020.
The 2016 announcement of Taran Killam's firing from "Saturday Night Live" was accompanied
by that of Jay Pharoah, who, like Killam, had been a cast member since 2010.
A year after his firing, Pharoah spoke about his exit from the show during a radio interview
with Hot97.
"You go where you're appreciated.
[...] You have multiple people on the cast saying things like, 'You're so talented and
you're able and they don't use you, it's unfair and it's making us feel bad because they don't
use you and you're a talent.'"
"They put people into boxes, and whatever they want you to do, they expect you to do."
Pharoah followed up his "SNL" stint by starring in the Showtime comedy "White Famous," which
ran for a single season in 2017.
He's also voiced Kanye West on multiple episodes of "Family Guy," and appeared on the celebrity-bartending
competition "Barmageddon."
Pharoah also made headlines in 2020 — not for his acting work, but for being accosted
by LAPD officers while out for a run, when he was mistaken for a suspect and detained
by having an officer handcuff him and kneel on his neck.
Luke Null's time on "Saturday Night Live" was so fleeting that some viewers may not
even remember him.
Null joined the show at the start of the 2017 season, but was let go before the next one.
During his single season, Null did have a few standout moments, such as a sketch in
which he played an obnoxious high school student who disrupted class.
In another, he portrayed an extreme heavy metal fan who meets with a surgeon in hopes
of getting his demon-style horns surgically removed.
Speaking with Vulture after his "SNL" exit, he said,
"I was only ever there one year.
I had one season, and you definitely have a lot of questions looking back: Did I do
something wrong?
Was I not writing good enough stuff?
Honestly, looking back — knowing how the show works, the mechanisms and the politics,
and its energy — it's a very tense and stressful place.
No one there is 'having fun.'"
Null also said that while it was tough to break out in a cast packed with established
performers, he felt he wasn't really given much of a chance.
"It was hard to leave and not think I didn't get much of an at bat."
Bobby Moynihan joined "Saturday Night Live" in 2008, quickly becoming a fan favorite thanks
to such popular characters as Drunk Uncle and "Jersey Shore" star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi.
Moynihan left the show of his own accord in 2017, and immediately landed the lead role
in CBS sitcom "Me, Myself & I." While promoting the show at the 2017 edition of the Television
Critics Association summer press tour, Moynihan opened up about his decision to leave "SNL."
"The day you get 'SNL,' you start worrying about your exit from 'SNL,' that was always
on my mind.
[...] I was an acting major in college.
I would like to show people I can play a grown man instead of just dressing up like Rosie O'Donnell."
"It's nice to not wear a diaper or dress like a lady for a little bit.
It's nice to actually play a human adult male with real problems."
"Me, Myself & I" wasn't the hit Moynihan had hoped for, and was yanked off the air after
just six low-rated episodes.
Moynihan, however, landed on his feet.
In addition to numerous TV guest spots and voice roles, he subsequently became a series
regular on the Ted Danson-starring NBC sitcom "Mr. Mayor."
Vanessa Bayer became a "Saturday Night Live" standout during her seven-season stint on
the show, beginning in 2010 and concluding in 2017.
That was largely due to her likable onscreen persona and such characters as her hilariously
heightened take on Jennifer Aniston's "Friends" character, Rachel Green.
She also featured in "SNL's" cult classic line of fake Totino's commercials, where she
just has to feed her hungry guys.
"Aww.
Fumble."
"What's happening to my hungry guys?!"
Bayer told The Hollywood Reporter that she decided to leave the show for a simple reason:
she just felt like she had been there long enough.
"It felt like it was time for me.
I had seven seasons and just felt like it was time for someone else to do that job."
She also revealed that her favorite character on the show was Jacob the bar mitzvah boy.
"He feels the closest to my personality.
The shyness and awkwardness is at the core of me."
As for how her fellow cast members responded to her exit, Bayer told HuffPost,
"I feel like everyone was supportive and 'we'll miss you, but we understand.'
It's a very hectic schedule so it's like, after seven years, I want to take a nap."
Bayer's post-"SNL" roles have included several guest spots on sitcoms, including "Brooklyn
Nine-Nine" and NBC's "Will & Grace" revival.
In addition, she headlined her own Showtime comedy, "I Love That For You," which was loosely
based on her experience as a survivor of childhood leukemia.
In August 2015, Sasheer Zamata was hired, becoming the first Black woman to be a full-time
cast member since Maya Rudolph left the show in 2007.
Zamata's hiring was seen as a response to criticism that had long been leveled at "SNL"
creator Lorne Michaels for the show's lack of Black female cast members.
Zamata wound up quitting the show after four seasons.
During a 2019 panel discussion hosted by New York Magazine's The Cut, she explained that
working on the show just wasn't what she had expected.
"So it was a couple years of figuring out, 'Am I okay with this?'
Do I want to just accept it as is and be like, 'That's just a job and I guess I'll just stay
and take it like everybody else?'
Or do I want to try something else that makes me feel really good and work with people who
excite me and who are excited about me and want to create things that make us feel fulfilled?"
Since leaving "SNL," Zamata has appeared in numerous TV shows, including "Woke" and "Home Economics."
Beck Bennett was one of six actors hired for the cast of "Saturday Night Live" in 2013,
and quickly established himself as the go-to guy for quirky impressions, whether it was
drunken Tom Brady or perpetually shirtless Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
During host Scarlett Johansson's 2019 monologue, Bennett poked fun at the niche he'd carved
out by jokingly lamenting,
"You need me!
Who's gonna play the dumb idiot?"
In 2021, Bennett announced on Instagram that he was leaving the show, writing,
"Thank you for 8 years of remarkable people and incredible experiences that completely
changed my life."
Speaking with Time, Bennett revealed that he left the show because he wanted to focus
on his family and his relationship with his wife, Jessy Hodges.
"It's been eight years of basically long distance with my wife, and if we are going to start
a family at any point, I think we have to start that at some point soon."
The couple didn't wait long before setting that plan in action; in May 2022, Hodges announced
via Instagram that they'd welcomed their first child.
Aidy Bryant's "SNL" journey began in 2012 and lasted a full decade.
After her departure in 2022, Bryant discussed her decision to leave during an interview
with Variety, revealing that the pandemic actually led her to stick around longer than
she'd anticipated.
"If it weren't for COVID, I probably would have left a few years earlier.
But it was such a huge change.
When COVID hit, it was so jarring that we were all like, 'I'm definitely going to come
back next year.'"
However, Bryant's commitment to her Hulu series "Shrill," which she co-created and starred
in, forced her to miss several episodes that season.
She said,
"I kept trying to seek one last normal year.
This year wasn't the normal year that I hoped for, but it was closer to that.
It was like, 'Okay, it's really time now.'
And 10 felt like a nice, solid round number."
"Shrill" also ended in 2021, but Bryant told Variety that she isn't waiting around for
the phone to ring, and is already working on creating her next project.
"I'm not comfortable waiting for roles because I haven't had great success there.
Everything that has worked for me has been by writing it myself."
Kate McKinnon was an "SNL" MVP during her 10-year run on the show, thanks to brilliant
impressions of celebs ranging from Justin Bieber to Hillary Clinton.
During her stint, McKinnon had also established herself as a sought-after actor outside the
show, in films such as "Ghostbusters" and "Office Christmas Party," even showcasing
her dramatic chops portraying Carole Baskin in the "Tiger King"-inspired TV series "Joe
vs. Carole."
Her decision to leave the show in 2022 didn't come lightly.
During an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan, she explained,
"I thought about it for a very long time, and it was very, very hard because all I ever
wanted to do in my whole life was be on 'Saturday Night Live,' and so I did.
I loved it."
"I had the best decade, and then I was just like, my body was tired, and I felt like it
was time."
Asked what she planned to do with her Saturday nights, McKinnon admitted that it would probably
be some time before she tuned in to watch any new episodes.
"I don't know what I will do.
I don't know if I can watch the show yet, because it's just too emo.
Because I miss everyone so much."
Joining "Saturday Night Live" in 2016, Melissa Villaseñor quickly became a standout for
her eye-popping array of celebrity impressions — many of which she showcased in a single
sketch that saw her nail impressions of Kristen Wiig, Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, Julia Louis–Dreyfus,
Kathy Griffin, and even "SNL" co-star Kate McKinnon.
Her time on the show came to an end in 2022 after six seasons, and she revealed on Daily
Beast's "The Last Laugh" podcast that she made the decision to leave in large part because
of her mental health.
"Last season, I had a couple of panic attacks.
I think it was just...
I was struggling.
I always felt like I was on the edge of a cliff every week.
And I was like, I don't want to be doing that to myself anymore.
And it's not like the show was mean toward me or anyone.
It was just how I handle things."
After her "SNL" exit, Villaseñor branched into new territory by releasing her first
book, "Whoops...
I'm Awesome."
She told Entertainment Weekly,
"I like telling people, 'It's a book for an adult's inner child.'"
When he joined the show in 2014, 20-year-old Pete Davidson was one of the youngest-ever
"Saturday Night Live" cast members.
He quickly made a mark with his hilarious Weekend Update appearances — as himself,
but he eventually became a tabloid staple thanks to a string of relationships with famous
women including Ariana Grande and Kim Kardashian.
Thanks to his breakout status on the show, Davidson also hit the big screen with roles
in "The Suicide Squad" and a star turn in "The King of Staten Island," the 2020 Judd
Apatow-directed feature loosely based on Davidson's real life as the son of a Staten Island firefighter
who died on 9/11.
In May 2022, Davidson announced via Instagram that he was leaving "SNL," writing,
"I owe Lorne Michaels and everyone at 'SNL' my life."
The writing had been on the wall for a while, though.
In 2021, he got candid about the harsh competition behind the scenes during an appearance on
"Live Your Truth: An Honest Conversation With Charlamagne Tha God," saying,
"As far as everyone else, it's a cutthroat f---ing show.
Everyone's trying to get their s--- on.
Everyone wants to be the next thing."
Then in June 2021, he hinted at his looming exit, telling Gold Derby,
"It is my seventh year and that's what the contract is usually for.
I started there with acne and left with tattoos."
After joining "Saturday Night Live" in 2017, Chris Redd stayed on the show for five years
before leaving in 2022.
In an exit statement to Entertainment Weekly, he said,
"Being a part of 'SNL' has been the experience of a lifetime."
While five years is hardly one of the show's lengthier stints, it was a year longer than
Redd had envisioned.
In an appearance on the "WTF Podcast with Marc Maron," he revealed that he had planned
to leave earlier, as he always had mixed feelings about the show.
"I was screaming 'four years' forever.
[...] I always loved that job as much as I hated the job."
He expanded on this in an interview with Gold Derby, saying,
"It is dream work and I did have a lot of fun.
But nah, man, I'm not going to sit here and be like [it was my dream] — because I feel
like it takes away from the people who were really dreaming about this when they were kids."
Following his "SNL" departure, Redd returned to his standup comedy roots with his own HBO
Max special, "Chris Redd: Why Am I Like This?"
When Cecily Strong appeared in her final episode of "SNL" in December 2022, she'd been a cast
member since 2012.
During the show, Strong referenced her departure — as recurring character Cathy Anne.
During Weekend Update, of course, the character announced she was ending her run on the segment
because she was being sent to jail.
Still, it was clear that Strong was really talking about herself and her time on "SNL."
"I had a lot of fun here, and I feel really lucky that I got to spend so many of the best
moments of my life in this place."
Strong shared a statement on her exit in a subsequent Instagram post, reflecting on her
decision to leave.
"I am ready to go, but I'll always know home is here.
I've had the time of my life working with the greatest people on earth."
Strong also apologized for keeping the news under wraps until the last minute, but offered
a poignant explanation, writing,
"I'm sorry I've been a little quiet about it publicly.
I didn't want the extra pressure on something already so emotional for me."
Thankfully, Strong's fans didn't have to wait long for her next project; in April 2023,
she and Keegan-Michael Key's movie musical spoof series "Schmigadoon!"
premiered its second season on Apple TV+.
In September 2019, a "Saturday Night Live" press release announced three new hires, one
of whom was comedian Shane Gillis.
Almost immediately after the announcement, journalist Seth Simon posted a video of Gillis
taken from a podcast on Twitter, in which the comedian uses racially insensitive terms
for Asian-Americans.
Backlash ensued, and "SNL" executive producer Lorne Michaels acted quickly — he axed Gillis
before he ever appeared on the show.
A spokesperson for Michaels said in a statement to CNN,
"After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL.
We were not aware of his prior remarks that have surfaced over the past few days.
The language he used is offensive, hurtful and unacceptable.
We are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was
not up to our standard."
Gillis responded in a since-deleted tweet, writing in part,
"I'm a comedian who pushes boundaries.
I sometimes miss."
After the show's fifth season, every remaining member of the original "Saturday Night Live"
cast left, along with creator Lorne Michaels.
This led to NBC hiring a new producer, Jean Doumanian, and a whole new cast.
The result was a season that is generally agreed to be one of the show's worst.
Yet one moment remains legendary, when cast member Charles Rocket dropped an F-bomb on
live television.
"Charlie how are you feeling after you've been shot?"
"I dunno man, its the first time I've been shot in my life.
I'd like to know who the f--- did it."
By that point, ratings had nosedived, and it had become painfully clear to anyone watching
that "SNL" had become an unmitigated disaster.
Doumanian was fired after the incident, as were several members of the cast.
Rocket, predictably, was among them.
Doumanian told The Hollywood Reporter that the network used the f-bomb as a convenient excuse.
"I just thought it was quite unfair."
While Rocket continued to work steadily in Hollywood following the infamous incident,
appearing in films like "Dances with Wolves" and "Dumb and Dumber," he was tragically found
dead in a field near his home in 2005.
The medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.
He was 56.