Kenan Thompson Confirms Rumors of ‘SNL’ Cast Shake-Up
Right now, it’s unclear who exactly will be pretending to have a fun social life before slowly turning to the camera and smiling in the opening credits of Saturday Night Live’s 51st season. There were rumors that Colin Jost might be hanging up his Weekend Update smirk for good, but nothing’s been confirmed.
Similarly, fans began to suspect that Bowen Yang may be done at SNL after he gave Sarah Sherman an “end of E.T.-sized hug” during the season finale’s goodnights. And Sherman herself joked about leaving the show during Scarlett Johansson’s monologue.
It's not unusual for Lorne Michaels to make his employees anxiously wait out the summer months before finding out if they will have the job in the fall or not, and now longtime cast member Kenan Thompson has seemingly confirmed that there will be a major shake-up at SNL. Although he provided absolutely no details, and kind of made the whole situation more confusing, to be honest.
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Thompson recently appeared at the Reel Works 24th Changemakers Gala, auctioning off two pairs of tickets to SNL (and its after-party) in of the organization that “mentors, inspires and empowers underserved NYC youth to share their stories through filmmaking.” Page Six caught up with Thompson on the red carpet and asked about the end of the season, which he called “bittersweet,” adding that it was especially so this year because “it feels like there’s maybe, possibly, a lot of change next year.”
“You want everyone to stay forever,” Thompson added, “knowing that people may be making decisions this summer. It’s always like you want your kids to stay young.”
The 47-year-old Good Burger star also revealed that he hasn’t officially signed on for any more SNL seasons, even after 22 years on the show. “You just never know what the future holds,” he explained. “I don’t want to be in the way of someone else, or I don’t want to be the stale old man riding the same thing. That doesn’t really happen that much at SNL, but there’s no guarantees, I guess.”
Thompson did suggest that he would happily return to Studio 8H, but only in a highly cryptic way that could indicate that contract negotiations are still underway. “I mean, I love that place,” he told the reporter. “It’s one of my favorite places to be.”
Incidentally, each pair of VIP tickets to SNL that Thompson donated went for a whopping $16,000 — despite the fact that buyers only have the foggiest sense of who will actually be performing on the show next season.