Saturday Night Live Star Beck Bennett Just Made A Shocking Announcement
When "Saturday Night Live" returns for its 47th season on October 2, it will — mostly — have the same cast it had last season. The vast majority of the major players will be back, and breakout stars Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman are getting promoted to the main cast. But there is one notable exception, as one long-term cast member has announced that he will not be returning for the new season.
Beck Bennett, who has been on "Saturday Night Live" since 2013 and is known for impressions including Sen. Mitch McConnell, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, announced on Instagram that he was leaving the show.
"Love you, 'SNL,'" Bennett wrote on Instagram Monday. "Gonna miss you so much. Thank you for 8 years of remarkable people and incredible experiences that completely changed my life. I had so much fun."
It's a pretty shocking announcement, as Bennett has been a key member of the cast for a long time, and it didn't seem like he was going anywhere. In addition to Bennett, featured player Lauren Holt, who was used sparingly during her debut season last year, will not be back for Season 47, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Beck Bennett is leaving, but most of the cast will be back
The complete Season 47 cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter, consists of repertory players Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, Colin Jost, Cecily Strong, Bowen Yang, Melissa Villaseñor, Heidi Gardner, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Alex Moffat, Mikey Day, Michael Che, Chloe Fineman, Pete Davidson, Kyle Mooney, and Chris Redd, with featured players Andrew Dismukes and Punkie Johnson returning from the previous season. Three new featured players have been added to the cast: Aristotle Athari, James Austin Johnson, and Sarah Sherman.
The season premiere will be hosted by Owen Wilson, with musical guest Kacey Musgraves. Other upcoming hosts include Kim Kardashian West, Rami Malek, and Jason Sudeikis. Upcoming musical guests include Halsey, Young Thug, and Brandi Carlile.
At this time of writing, Beck Bennett has not further elaborated on his reasons for leaving the show, but his Instagram post implies that there are no hard feelings.
For the first time this season, "Saturday Night Live" will air live coast-to-coast and will also stream live on Peacock, the NBCUniversal-owned streaming service, according to The Futon Critic. Every previous season of "Saturday Night Live" is available to stream on Peacock.