Bowen Yang Breaks Silence on Shocking 'SNL' Exit, Acting Criticism

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Bowen Yang shocked the entertainment industry at the tail end of 2025 when he abruptly exited Saturday Night Live mid-season, announcing the move just days before his last show alongside host Ariana Grande and musical guest Cher. Now, he's explaining what happened, and addressing some criticisms of his tenure on the show.

Yang Explains Decision to Exit SNL

During the latest episode of his popular Las Culturistas podcast with Matt Rogers, Yang explained that the decision to exit was at exactly the right time for him.

“The current entertainment ecosystem is so turbulent that people have completely valid reasons for staying longer, or in a lot of cases, don’t have the privilege of staying on as long as they would like to," he said. "I have this very beautiful thing where I get to say that I stayed on exactly as long as I wanted to.”

Yang faced rumors that he would not rejoin the cast this year amidst his burgeoning film career, something he seemed to confirm in his latest remarks. “I was maybe unsure about going back in the summer, and I’m so glad I did,” he said.

He Addresses Criticism of His Characters and Range on the Show

During the podcast, Yang also took some time to address criticisms of his tenure, including that he lacked range and played too many characters that revolved around being gay and asian. (Yang was the first Asian cast member ever on SNL).

“I feel like I was really bogged down the entire time I was there about the idea that there was no range in anything I did,” he said, explaining that he understood the casting and character choices made by the showrunners and writing staff. “I knew I was never gonna play the dad. I was never gonna play the generic thing in sketches. It’s a sketch show; Each thing is like four minutes long. It is short and collapsed by necessity, so therefore it plays on archetypes.”

He went on to explain further: “These archetypes are also in a relationship with generic things, and there is a genericism in whiteness and in being a canvas to build upon. I came in pre-stretched, pre-dyed. People had their over-determinations on what I was, which was: ‘Oh, that’s just the gay Asian guy on “SNL.‘ So anytime I would try to work outside of that, it got completely ignored or it still got collapsed to, ‘Oh, he’s being gay and Asian as always.'”

He concluded by saying that he thinks "range is a myth and it’s all about palatability, whether you’re getting taxed on it or you are subsidized.”

Yang's SNL Tenure

After first joining Saturday Night Live as a writer in 2018 during Season 44, Yang became a featured player the following year. He was promoted to a full-time cast member at the top of season 47, and retired during the ongoing season 51. He earned four nominations for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy at the Primetime Emmys during his run on the show.