With Saturday Night Live facing renewed criticism over its lack of Black women in the cast, former cast member Leslie Jones says the show needs to launch another focused search to fix the problem.
In a new interview with Matt Wilstein on The Daily Beast‘s The Last Laugh podcast, Jones said she’s hopeful change will come this season—and revealed she’s been sending along suggestions for who should be next.
“That’s not an easy thing to do, to find that replacement. I don’t think they expected Ego [Nwodim] to leave,” Jones said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if later on in the season they add a Black woman.”
She added that she’s been actively suggesting new candidates tothe show. “There’s so many women I can send them. And I do,” she said. “I send them stuff all the time.”
Jones joined SNL during its last major diversity push. In 2013, amid backlash over the show’s mostly white cast, Lorne Michaels held emergency midseason auditions to find more Black women performers. Jones was hired as a writer alongside LaKendra Tookes, while Sasheer Zamata joined as a featured player. Jones became a cast member the following season and remained with the show until 2019.
She now believes a similar effort may be needed again. “Me and Lorne talked about this a lot,” she said. “You know, it’s really hard to run that show. Lorne has to be literally a magician. He has to make people in Cali laugh, and he has to make people in Omaha laugh at the same thing. So trying to keep up with a machine like that…I don’t think they get to see as many Black women as they need to see…until they’ve made an effort to go out and pool some people.”
“I hate to say it, but that is what you have to do for Black women, because we’re not everywhere,” she continued. “We’re not in the sketch groups, the famous ones. They have Black women sketch groups. A lot of them. But they don’t get the love that the other sketch groups get… You have to go and search for them. And they’re out there.”
Jones also pushed back against the idea of SNL reverting to a dated fix—having Black male cast members portray women. “I hope not,” she said. “I don’t think Kenan’s gonna let them do that.” (In 2013, Kenan Thompson refused to play Black women going forward, urging the show to hire women for those roles.)
The conversation also turned to late night more broadly. Reflecting on her guest-hosting stint on The Daily Show during its 2023 host search, Jones admitted she had hoped to land the permanent gig.
“When I was going through that process, it did feel like something [I could do],” she told Wilstein. “I was really interested in it, but…I don’t think anyone is brave enough to put a Black person on late night yet. And that’s exactly what they need to do. All you see is the white men in blue suits and black suits doing a monologue. I love Jimmy, I love Seth, I love Stephen Colbert, but it’s all the same. You put a Black woman on late night, that will shake sh*t up.”
Put Sherri Shepherd on late night TV.
Or Tiffany Haddish
I loved seeing Tiffany guest host JKL. She seemed like she was having a good time with it.
No thanks….last time they did a search they ended up with Leslie Jones.
“You put a Black woman on late night, that will shake sh*t up.”
Right…so when is the all-female “Ghostbusters 2” coming out?
Mucky Boy can’t help but spew his racist shit, all over the place, while he projects it onto others he doesn’t like because they keep on calling out his racist shit!
Mucky Boy really deserves to go through some horrible things, peoples!
Amber Ruffin had a late-night show on Peacock.
Was NBC racist for cancelling it without a press release?
I mean, racist NBC said her show would only return on occasion as specials but NBC never ordered them.
Was NBC being racist?
Maybe she is right. They had Kamala as a presidential candidate and border czar and she flamed out faster than typical.
Mucky Boy can’t help himself, projecting his vile racism onto others! He believes, with that fruit pit he uses for a brain, that black women are stupid and useless, and that “REAL ‘MURICUNS” like him (LOL!) knows what’s best for the nation.When in fact, batshit racists, like him, deserve to be made pariahs for fucking things up with their blind support of Drumpf!
Now everyone point at him and laugh at him, to let him know what a fat ignorant loser of a troll it is!
Even black lesbian, Karine Jean-Pierre, said Kamala was stupid.
And Joe Biden thought Karine was stupid.
Just think, this time last year, the polls were showing Kamala winning the presidency.
He’s still trying to pull racist shit out of its fat lard ass in order to try and make a point! Nothing but lies from the racist loser of a hole who keeps posting here because he’s important!
Hey Mucky Boy! You gonna fucking go back to school and put in the effort to get your GED? Or does the trailer park you live in forbid educated people? Doesn’t matter. Considering KJP still remains loyal to Biden and vice versa, you’re still a pathetic loser that doesn’t know what TF it’s talking about, boy!
Well, KJP called Kamala to be an incompetent boob too…..and Biden said Kamala was stupid.
Just think, one year ago, polling showed Kamala winning the presidency…lol
Yall need marriage counseling lmaoooo
Mucky Boy keeps on lying his stupid face, peoples! He’s that fucking determined to see to it everyone takes in his ignorant racist viewpoint, because he’s a fucking stupid loser with no friends!
Keep on crying for us, Mucky boy! Your tears are delish!
Why are you such a racist misogynist? Is it because women find you a deplorable sack of turds? Did they mock you for having a tiny penis? No wonder you worship that fat disgusting pig, Drumpf! He speaks to fellow losers like you, because he’s one himself!
You are so lame, Mucky Boy!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣