Saturday Night Live’s Bowen Yang broke his silence on Heidi Gardner’s exit on Wednesday.
“I am thrilled to go back,” but “I will miss the people who are not coming back very, very much,” Yang said on the most recent episode of the Las Culturistas podcast. Yang described Gardner as “just a truly beautiful person,” as he lamented her exit. “You are one of the greats,” Yang said, addressing his now-former co-worker. “You will go down in history.”
Last month, Gardner was revealed to be leaving the show after eight-seasons as a fan-favorite player. Reports allege that her contract with the series was not renewed amid Lorne Michaels’ cast shakeup. Gardner herself has yet to comment on her exit, but Yang jumped to offer his thoughts on her departure.
Her “heart was so big, and clearly so f‑‑‑ing funny,” he said, recalling that Gardner “would take it upon herself to write pieces for other cast.” When she wrote a “Weekend Update” segment for ex-SNL cast member Punkie Johnson, Yang said “It was one of the most beautiful, kindest gestures I’ve ever seen at that show.”
Gardner is the longest-tenured cast member to be let go in the last round of SNL’s bloodbath of firings. Devon Walker and Michael Longfellow had been on the show for three years before they revealed they weren’t asked back for Season 51. Emil Wakim was also let go, after just one season. Writers Rosebud Banker and the show’s first out-trans writer Celeste Yim also announced their departures.
Most of the major stars of the current cast remain aside from Gardner, including longest-ever SNL player Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, Yang, and Sarah Sherman. New hires include Ben Marshall, one of the three members of the writing and digital short team Please Don’t Destroy, as well as, Veronika Slowikowska, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, and “Kill Tony” comedian Kam Patterson.
Yang said the show will be missing an “anchor” without Gardner. She was the only comedian trusted to write sketches on her own, he said. “It’s always a very, very vulnerable thing as a cast member to put only your name on it,” he said, “but any time you saw just ‘Gardner,’ you knew you were in good hands.”
Though Gardner had a special place in the show and Yang’s heart, he also shouted out the remaining cast who bit the dust. “Shout out Devon, Emil, Michael Longfellow,” he said. “They were fantastic comedians going in. They are fantastic comedians coming out. Those are some A+ gems.”
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