Tearful Bowen Yang departs ‘SNL’ after emotional Christmas episode hosted by Ariana Grande

Bowen Yang attends The Museum Gala at the American Museum of Natural History on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

NEW YORK — Bowen Yang bid an emotional farewell to “Saturday Night Live” with music, laughter and help from his “Wicked” buddy Ariana Grande.

Yang starred in the night’s final sketch, playing a retiring airport lounge worker working his final shift on Christmas Eve, serving eggnog to travelers. He sang “Please Come Home for Christmas” and was joined by Grande, the night’s host, and Cher, its musical guest. The women joined Yang in song and hugged him.

The sketch gave Yang a chance to say goodbye to some castmates — he delightfully sprayed Kenan Thompson with eggnog — and its premise gave a chance for Yang to deliver lines about moving on. “I just wanted to enjoy it for a little longer,” an emotional Yang said. By the end of the performance, he was in tears.

The show closed with a brief photo tribute to slain director Rob Reiner and the cast curtain call.

“We love you so much,” Grande told Yang, who was a constant presence throughout Saturday’s show and drew huge applause with each appearance.

Yang joined the show as a writer in 2018, became a featured player the following season and was promoted to the main cast two seasons after that. Yang was a fan favorite with five Emmy nominations over the years.

In an Instagram post Saturday, Yang wrote: “i loved working at SNL, and most of all i loved the people. i was there at a time when many things in the world started to seem futile, but working at 30 rock taught me the value in showing up anyway when people make it worthwhile.”

Yang, coming off a huge year or two of projects, departed “SNL” mid-season.

Grande helped kick off Saturday’s show with a parody of “All I Want for Christmas is You” about buying gifts for people you barely know during her opening monologue. Yang slid onto the stage to huge cheers and helped her complete the song.

The friends appeared together often during the show, including a dance class sketch and a pre-recorded “Home Alone” sketch in which the McCallister family meet violent ends from Kevin’s leftover traps.

Word of Yang’s departure came after a major exodus of cast members last summer ahead Season 51’s start. They included Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker, Emil Wakim and John Higgins.

The news wasn’t entirely a surprise. Yang had publicly discussed the idea, telling People in September he had mulled it over with the NBC sketch comedy show’s creator Lorne Michaels. He got a vote of confidence from Michaels and decided to stay at that time.

“Lorne was like, ‘You have more to do,’ and that means a lot, because I even confessed to him. I was like, ‘I feel the audience is maybe getting sick of me.’ And he was like, ‘That’s not true. There’s more for you to do. I need you,’” Yang said.

Of Michaels, Yang added: “That man has changed my life, and I owe a lot of my life to that show. And I love working there. The people are the best. I really love each of them so much.”

In addition to “SNL,” Yang co-hosts the pop culture podcast “Las Culturistas” with his friend and fellow comedian Matt Rogers. He was in “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good” as Pfannee and co-starred in the remade “The Wedding Banquet” this year.

In 2023, he appeared in “Dicks: The Musical” and “Fire Island” the year before that. He also co-starred in “Awkwafina is Nora from Queens” from 2020 to 2023.

Yang and Rogers hosted the spoof Las Culturista Culture Awards on Bravo last summer. Yang posted on Instagram that the two will be back for more pop culture comedy on the awards next year.

Mid-season departures from “SNL” are not unprecedented. Cecily Strong did it in December 2022.

Among the bits that earned Yang breakout status was his turn as the Titanic iceberg on the recurring “Weekend Update” segment, his favorite place on the show, according to an October interview with Esquire. He also played George Santos, a straight man who hooks up with Gina Gershon and Sydney Sweeney, and a gay Oompa Loompa. And he spoofed Vice President JD Vance.

Yang made a final “Weekend Update” appearance alongside former “SNL” cast member Aidy Bryant, playing characters who offered viewers tips on what trends are in and which are out for the holidays and 2026.

Yang, the son of Chinese immigrants, was Esquire’s recent cover star. In an Oct. 28 interview accompanying his cover shoot, he told the magazine: “There’s an idea that all of what I do is queer and Asian, which I don’t think is true. I get sick of people reducing the work I do on the show to those identifiers.”

Work, he said, “is not the most meaningful thing for me anymore. The things I like are spending time with friends, working every now and then, not being caged by it.”

Yang noted some advice he once received from Kristen Wiig when she hosted “SNL.”

“She was like, ‘Have fun. It’s the most fun job in the world, and you’ll miss it when it’s done. You won’t realize how much you miss it until you leave.’”