Punkie Johnson will not return to "Saturday Night Live" as it enters its 50th season, capping a four-season run on the late-night sketch show.
In an Instagram post, Johnson — the show's second openly queer Black woman — confirmed reports that she wouldn’t return to the show, after announcing her departure at a live event on Wednesday.
“It’s no bad blood, it’s no bridges burned, it’s no hard feelings,” the comic said. “SNL was a dream I didn’t even know that I could achieve.”
Johnson, who made an appearance in the 2023 film “Bottoms,” worked as a repertory player on the show for the past two seasons, after joining in Season 46.
Audience members present at her “Punkie and Friends” taping in Brooklyn on Wednesday suggested that there was more to the story than Johnson shared on Instagram.
“It definitely wasn't a joke either. Like she's actually gone and she's very happy about it,” one attendee wrote in a post to X. “She also said the issues sort of started when she was told to lose her dreads and stop getting buff."
Johnson, who reportedly got the least screen time of any “SNL” cast members in multiple episodes last season, previously played Vice President Kamala Harris during a sketch in a March episode, before NBC confirmed that Maya Rudolph would return to play the presidential candidate in the upcoming season.
As the Hollywood Reporter noted, NBC does not typically announce departures or casting decisions until closer to the start of the season, which is set to begin on September 28.
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