Former The View host Sherri Shepherd said Saturday Night Live has an “emergency” on its hands following the exit of longtime cast member Ego Nwodim.
Nwodim “was their only Black female cast member,” the host pointed out on Monday’s Sherri, “So, now there are no Black women on SNL. So, what I say to SNL, y’all got to hurry up and you got to find somebody.”
Nwodim left the show just before its season 51, after seven seasons. The fan-favorite cast member’s departure was not part of show boss Lorne Michaels’ promised cast shakeup after the 50th season, as Nwodim had been announced as a returning player before she announced that she’d made the choice not to return.
Shepherd said something important is “missing” without Nwodim.
“This is a ‘break glass in case of emergency.’ It is an emergency,” Shepherd said. “It’s so important. We got to have representation on that show. When I co-hosted The View, there was no Black woman on the show to play me—There was no Black woman that played Whoopi,” she continued, showing a photo of SNL’s Kenan Thompson playing Goldberg for parodies of the daytime show, and another of Tracy Morgan, who donned a wig to play Shepherd.
“They had Tracy Morgan in that old tired shake-and-go wig,” Shepherd said. “That was supposed to be me… He’s still got a five o’clock shadow!” she quipped. Ex-SNL star Jay Pharoah also portrayed Shepherd on the show in the absence of a Black woman on the cast.
Nwodim, who’s known for her characters “Lisa from Temecula” and “Miss Eggy” on the show, never portrayed Shepherd—but she’s impersonated Goldberg on the show, as well as several other well-known Black women celebrities, like Diane Warwick, Cardi B, Halle Berry, and more. Shepherd said the “representation” is necessary and insisted there was no excuse for not bringing on another Black woman cast member as soon as possible.
“I’m trying to understand and I know Ego’s just leaving; you’re trying to get your bearings,” the host said, addressing SNL directly, “but you got to replace Ego.”
Michaels insisted to NPR in 2015 that the absence of Black women on the cast “didn’t come from any place of intent or meanness, it came from looking every year for the best people we can find.” Shepherd slammed that sentiment on Monday.
“What I don’t like hearing is, ‘We can’t find anybody,’” she said. “There are lots of talented Black female comics that you can cast on SNL. If you go to any comedy club or improv place, they are out there waiting for this opportunity” and “getting ready for this very opportunity.” Shepherd concluded, “SNL, do not disappoint us.”
For more, listen to Sherri Shepherd on The Last Laugh podcast.
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