Punkie Johnson Is Leaving Saturday Night Live

First on LateNighter: Saturday Night Live‘s Punkie Johnson will not be returning for the show’s 50th season.

While NBC has not yet officially announced the news, LateNighter’s Jon Schneider—host of the Saturday Night Network—spoke with Johnson on Thursday morning and confirmed that “she will not be returning to SNL in Season 50.”

Rumors of Johnson’s departure began circulating on Wednesday evening, when the comedian announced at a live comedy show at Brooklyn’s Union Hall that she would not be returning to the sketch comedy series.

“Punkie is leaving SNL, she said this was fine to share online so I guess Twitter is the first to know. It definitely wasn’t a joke either like she’s actually gone and she’s very happy about it,” one member of the crowd posted to X/Twitter. Others then corroborated the news.

Johnson’s announcement came just hours after reports surfaced that Maya Rudolph will be reprising her impersonation of Kamala Harris on SNL through the election. (Johnson had played Harris on one occasion this past season.)

With nearly two months to go before the start of Season 50, Johnson’s departure isn’t likely to be confirmed by the show until its Season 50 cast is officially announced and that may be by design. (One of her castmates, Michael Che, is famous for announcing that he’s leaving SNL at live shows and on social media, only to ultimately find his way back.)

Johnson first joined Saturday Night Live as a featured player in Season 46. She was upped to repertory player in 2022. According to LateNighter’s screen time tallies for Season 49, Johnson logged less screen time than any of the show’s other repertory players. (Four of the show’s featured players outranked Johnson as well, with only Molly Kearney logging less screen time.)

Saturday Night Live is set to kick off its 50th season on September 28.

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