Kate McKinnon Among Cast Members Reportedly Exiting ‘SNL’

Author: Alex Cooper

Lesbian comedian Kate McKinnon is reportedly leaving Saturday Night Live, along with fellow cast members Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, and Kyle Mooney, according to media reports on Friday.

The four are expected to leave the show after it ends its 47th season tomorrow evening, Variety reports. 

“The actors’ departures are likely to draw a new burst of attention to the long-running program, which typically uses its summer hiatus to recalibrate its cast of players and contributors,” the outlet states.

Deadline had previously reported that McKinnon, Bryant, and Mooney were planning to leave the show.

McKinnon has been a standout fixture on the show since joining in 2012, the same year as Bryant. She’s stayed on the show even after her initial contract ended.

The comedian and actor has played and impersonated everyone from the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Ellen DeGeneres.

McKinnon’s also found fame outside of SNL in movies and television. She’s been in Ghostbusters, Bombshell, and The Magic School Bus. She was recently absent from SNL for the Tiger King scripted series Joe vs. Carole, playing Carole Baskin.

She’s set to appear in the upcoming Barbie film.

Her exit also means that Bowen Yang and Punkie Johnson will be the only queer cast remaining on the show. 

In March, McKinnon took on Florida’s “don’t say gay” law on the show’s “Weekend Update” segment in what the Los Angeles Times called “her signature chaotic flair.”

“I am deeply gay — sorry, deeply concerned,” she said. “This is gonna make kids gay and trans — sorry, depressed and suicidal. And I think these laws are lesbians — sorry, unconscionable … If the ’90s were right, and gay means bad, then this is the gayest law I have ever seen.”

Original Article on The Advocate
Author: Alex Cooper