BY: DM
Published 50 minutes ago
Writer Celeste Yim has confirmed their departure from NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” ending a five-season run as a writer on the iconic sketch show. Yim — who made history as “SNL’s” first openly nonbinary and first out transgender staff writer — announced their exit on Instagram. They called the job a dream come true but also “grueling,” and noted that they often “slept in [their] office every week” amid the show’s demanding schedule. Here is a look at what Yim said about their time on “SNL.”
Now, Yim is bidding farewell to the beloved show with plans to pursue writing in other spaces.
Celeste Yim spent five years at “SNL.”
In their farewell post, Yim reflected on an “SNL” experience that was equal parts challenging and rewarding. The Toronto-born writer joined “SNL” in 2020 at age 23 and rose to writing supervisor by 2023, becoming a key voice in the writers’ room during the show’s 46th through 50th seasons.
“I hate when other people say this, but it’s true that I was the first ever out trans person to be a writer for “SNL.” I always felt honored to be working within the long tradition of queer writing at the show,” Yim wrote. They recounted how friends on staff “helped me with everything” and admitted they “got yelled at by random famous men” (and “some famous girls too”) in the course of the job. Despite the chaos, Yim emphasized that “I loved it and I laughed every day and it’s where I grew up.”
Yim has not announced a specific next project yet, but all indications are that they will continue their comedy-writing career outside of “SNL.” In their Instagram statement, Yim vowed to keep writing to foster connection within the LGBTQIA+ community.
“SNL” is experiencing major cast shakeups.
Yim’s exit comes amid a broader shake-up at “Saturday Night Live” as it heads into the 2025 season. Just days before Yim’s news, cast member Devon Walker announced he was leaving after three years on the show.
“Sometimes it was toxic as hell. But we made the most of what it was, even amidst all of the dysfunction,” Walker wrote on Instagram. Then, on Aug. 27, featured player Emil Wakim revealed he was not returning for Season 51 after just one year in the cast, describing the call as “a gut punch” when he learned he was let go.
“Every time I scanned into the building, I would think how insane it is to get to work there,” Wakim wrote. “It was the most terrifying, thrilling, and rewarding experience of my life, and I will miss it dearly and all the brilliant people that work there that made it feel like a home. Thank you to Lorne for taking a chance on me and changing my life.”
These exits follow “SNL’s” 50th season and appear to be only the beginning of a larger transition. Longtime executive producer Lorne Michaels had hinted at “shake-ups” coming for the show’s 51st season, per AP. Lorne confirmed in an interview that he expected to make changes to the lineup.
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