It’s that time of year again, when various SNL cast members start announcing their departures from Studio 8H on social media.
Last year, in the lead-up to Season 51, fans witnessed emotional goodbyes from heavy hitters like Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim. Season 52 looks to be no different. In fact, we’ve already lost one power player.
Read on for everything to know about Saturday Night Live Season 52.
OUT: CHLOE FINEMAN
Chloe Fineman is the first Saturday Night Live star to exit the series ahead of Season 52. She’s arguably one of the show’s best impressionists, with her spot-on depictions of celebs like Jennifer Coolidge, Drew Barrymore, and even Timothée Chalamet frequently going viral. She made the announcement in a lengthy Instagram post on July 16 — see below.
Fineman’s decision to leave NBC’s long-running late-night program after seven seasons is strictly because “it does feel like the right time.” She then joked that her departure had nothing to do with her “lipstick for thicc dogs” sketch being dropped, despite her sobbing “uncontrollably” and storming into a producer’s office when that happened.
While Fineman never earned any Emmy love for her time on SNL, she did receive a 2021 nomination at the Gold Derby TV Awards as Breakthrough Performer of the Year.
Here is Fineman’s full statement:
After 7 wonderful seasons at SNL I have decided it’s time for my next chapter.
It’s cliche to say this but working at SNL has been the greatest privilege of my life. I still can’t really believe I got to be a part of it. I fell in love with the place the second I walked through the door. Lorne (if you’re reading this on your burner account) I want you to know that I am forever in your debt.
Every day I was lucky enough to be surrounded by the best people in the business, and I was constantly amazed watching them work. Sewing a Jojo Siwa costume in 10 hours. Writing a cold open at 2pm on a Saturday. Finishing the VFX of a video minutes before dress (I don’t know if “finishing VFX” is the right technical term but you get the idea).
I’m definitely not the first to make this observation but it really is funny looking back at it all now, because at the show you get so invested in everything you work on. You sob uncontrollably when your sketch isn’t picked. You storm into a producer’s office telling them they just made the biggest mistake of their lives. You call everyone you know to complain. And then you look back a few years later and it was a sketch called “lipstick for thicc dogs.”
But that’s just the show. You respect it so much that you give it absolutely everything you have even when it’s incredibly stupid. So you’re ecstatic when it works out and the most devastated you’ve ever been when it doesn’t. And in the end it doesn’t matter all that much but it did at the moment.
It’s really hard to leave SNL but it does feel like the right time. I’m going to miss it a lot. But the people who work there are my family and that place is my home, and I know I’ll never be too far away.
And I swear to God, one day, sometime in the future, they WILL make lipstick for thicc dogs.
THE CAST
With Fineman out, who’s in? NBC has yet to announce the complete roster of new and returning stars for Season 52, a decision that should arrive later this summer.
We are still waiting to learn the fates of the following Season 51 cast members: Tommy Brennan, Michael Che (“Weekend Update” co-anchor), Jeremy Culhane, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Marcello Hernández, James Austin Johnson, Colin Jost (“Weekend Update” co-anchor), Ben Marshall, Ashley Padilla, Kam Patterson, Sarah Sherman, Veronika Slowikowska, Kenan Thompson, and Jane Wickline.
THE PREMIERE DATE
An official release date for Season 52 will come later this summer. Reminder that the last five seasons of SNL premiered on Oct. 4 (Season 51), Sept. 28 (Season 50), Oct. 14 (Season 49), Oct. 1 (Season 48), and Oct. 2 (Season 47). That makes Saturday, Oct. 3 a smart prediction if you were a betting person.
Stay tuned for more breaking news on the 52nd season of Saturday Night Live.
