Bowen Yang tearfully bids farewell to ‘Saturday Night Live’ with the help of Cher and Ariana Grande
By Dan Heching, CNN
(CNN) — Bowen Yang got teary-eyed during the final sketch on Saturday’s episode of “Saturday Night Live,” which was his last.
The 5-time Primetime Emmy nominee – who confirmed via his social media earlier on Saturday that he was retiring from “SNL” after the telecast – played a Delta Sky Club employee working his last shift at the airport on Christmas Eve, armed with a broken eggnog machine.
Various cast members came up to him posing as holiday travelers, and it soon became clear that the skit was a vehicle to send Yang off.
“This is my last shift. It’s sad. I’m gonna miss everything about this place. The way it smells,” he told fellow cast members, including Andrew Dismukes.
“The celebrities who come through. Just last week, Josh O’Connor came through,” Yang added jokingly, in a nod to last week’s “SNL” host.
He soon called his elderly wife at home, who was played by this weekend’s host, Ariana Grande, and was later joined by both her and the night’s musical guest Cher for a rendition of The Eagles’ “Please Come Home for Christmas.”
At one point Yang broke down while expressing gratitude for his time on the long-running NBC sketch show.
“I just feel so lucky that I ever got to work here. And I just wanted to enjoy it for a little bit longer. Especially the people. I’ve loved every single person who works here,” he said tearfully.
Yang’s midseason departure from the show follows several other cast members who revealed they were leaving ahead of the start of Season 51, which included Devon Walker, Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Emil Wakim and others.
“SNL” will resume with a new episode on January 17, 2026, with host Finn Wolfhard of “Stranger Things” and musical guest A$AP Rocky.
The-CNN-Wire
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