Saturday Night Live season 51

On August 22, 2025, prior to the start of the season, creator/executive producer Lorne Michaels confirmed that changes to the cast were guaranteed and that announcements about any changes would be made in the following weeks.^[5]

Beginning on August 25, a series of departures was announced, starting with Devon Walker (who had been let go from the show after three seasons - since 2022), that was followed later by featured player Emil Wakim (who was let go after one season), Michael Longfellow (also let go after three seasons - since 2022), Heidi Gardner (who had been let go after eight seasons - since 2017),^[6] and Ego Nwodim (who voluntarily left after seven seasons - since 2018).^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

On September 2, 2025, five new featured cast members were announced: stand-up comic Tommy Brennan, Upright Citizens Brigade performer and Dropout TV regular Jeremy Culhane, stand-up comic and Kill Tony podcast regular Kam Patterson, social media comedian and actress Veronika Slowikowska, and Ben Marshall, SNL staff writer and member of the comedy trio and former SNL collaborators, Please Don't Destroy.^[12] PDD's time on SNL ended after four seasons (2021–2025) as John Higgins departed the show while Martin Herlihy remained in a writing-only capacity.

Michaels also confirmed that James Austin Johnson would return, noting that the show would rely on Johnson's Donald Trump impersonation for the foreseeable future.^[13]

Despite Gardner, Nwodim, Longfellow, Walker and Wakim's departures, the rest of the cast from the previous season returned. Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline, both of whom were hired for season 50, remained as featured players.^[1]

This was the final season for longtime cast member Bowen Yang (who started on the writing staff in 2018 and had been a cast member since 2019), as he left the show following the Christmas episode hosted by his Wicked co-star, Ariana Grande, on December 20, 2025.^[14] He is the sixth cast member to leave the show in 2025, following the former cast members listed above.

bold denotes "Weekend Update" anchor

On August 24, 2025, writer Celeste Yim announced, via Instagram, that they had left the show after five seasons. Yim joined the writing staff in 2020 and became the show's first openly trans, non-binary writer. They also became a writing supervisor in the second half of season 48.^[15] The next day, Rosebud Baker, a writer since 2022 who was appointed as a Weekend Update writer the previous season, announced she also had left the show after nearly three seasons.^[16] On September 2, 2025, it was announced that Please Don't Destroy member John Higgins, who had been a writer on SNL since 2021, would be leaving after four seasons.^[17] On September 4, 2025, long-term writer Steven Castillo announced his departure. Castillo previously wrote for the show from 2017 to 2021, before returning midway through season 49 in 2024, and overall wrote for seven non-consecutive seasons. He stated that his second run at SNL was never meant to be long-term and that he just wanted to be a part of the 50th season.^[18]

On September 30, 2025, prior to the start of the season, seven new writers—Jack Bensinger, Tucker Flodman, Maxwell Gay, Claire McFadden, Rachel Pegram, Jo Sunday, and Maddie Wiener—were all hired. At the same time, Auguste White, a writer who joined in 2022, had left the show after three seasons.^[19]

Additionally, long time senior writer Bryan Tucker is on a temporary leave from the show, longtime writer/producer Erik Kenward (who has been with the show since 2001) has been promoted to head writer (alongside Kent Sublette, Alison Gates, and Streeter Seidell), and longtime producer Erin Doyle (who has been with the show since 2009) has been promoted to top-level producer alongside Kenward and Steve Higgins.^[20]