Saturday Night Live will be down another familiar face when the series returns.
Chris Redd is the latest cast member to depart ahead of Season 48.
“Being a part of SNL has been the experience of a lifetime,” Redd said in a statement.
“Five years ago, I walked into 30 Rock knowing that this was an amazing opportunity for growth.”
“Now, with friends who have become family and memories I will cherish forever, I’m grateful to Lorne Michaels and to the entire SNL organization.”
“From the bottom of my heart, I can’t thank you all enough.”
Redd first appeared on the NBC series in 2017.
News of Redd’s exit comes as the series is experiencing a shake-up as it heads into Season 48.
Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Melissa Villaseñor, and Aristotle Athari all announced their exits earlier this year.
Michael Che, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, and Bowen Yang, Andrew Dismukes, Punkie Johnson, James Austin Johnson, and Sarah Sherman are all locked in to return.
Comedians Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker have been drafted in as new cast members to help fill the void following the recent wave of exits.
Undoubtedly, there are some big questions about how the series will pivot following the loss of some of its most popular faces.
“This will be a transition year, and the change years are always difficult,” Lorne Michaels told reporters earlier this month backstage at the Emmy awards.
Michaels said that “there are new people and things are changing and a different generation comes into the show.”
As for the mass cast exodus, Michaels believes it wouldn’t have happened at once if not for COVID-19.
“I think people might’ve left earlier, but there was no place to go,” he told reporters.
“It was difficult, particularly when you’re rehearsing in masks and it’s all protocols and there’s nothing to do after the show except go home.”
“I think that there was just a bonding [that happened] and I think people got very close.”
“When we did those at-home shows, you got to see everyone’s apartment and actually where they live and how they live.”
“So there was an intimacy and a connection between the audience and this group. I couldn’t imagine leaving work without that whole team, so we just kept going.”
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.
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