Saturday Night Live's Molly Kearney Announces Series Exit After 2 Seasons: 'It Was Such a Dream Come True'

Kearney's announcement comes one day after fellow 'Saturday Night Live' cast member Punkie Johnson confirmed her own departure ahead of season 50

Molly Kearney performs onstage at the 2019 Clusterfest on June 21, 2019 in San Francisco, California
Molly Kearney. Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Molly Kearney has left Studio 8H for the last time.

The comedian, 32, announced on Instagram on Aug. 2 that they had wrapped their final appearance on Saturday Night Live. The touching post featured images of Kearney — who uses they/them pronouns — with cast members, crew and guests like Ayo Edebiri.

“Yall that’s a wrap on my time on SNL! Reflecting on the amazing 2 seasons I got on this show, it was such a dream come true,” they wrote in the caption. “So incredibly grateful for this period in my life. So much love to all my big hearted buddies behind the scenes who make the magic happen every week. So many bald caps, so little time. It was a true honor to work with such a talented group of writers and DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE CAST.  🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻"

They gave "special shout out to my day 1" castmates Marcello Hernández, Devon Walker and Michael Longfellow, adding, "Head up and heart out! Harold forever!!!!!”

Kearney was the first non-binary castmember to join the SNL cast and arrived following the departures of Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant and Melissa Villaseñor. Their exit follows Punkie Johnson’s announcement in a video posted to Instagram on Aug. 1 that she was also leaving the show.

“I just want to let you know after four seasons, I will not be returning to SNL for the 50th,” Johnson began in a clip addressing her fans. “Alright, so last night, I had a Punkie and Friends show, and since it was some SNL cast and writers at the show, I opened up the floor for questions."

The actress revealed that "everything was going fine" until an audience member asked what she was most "looking forward to" in the show's upcoming 50th season.

"I don’t remember the exact question, all I heard was, ‘me and next season.’ I’m not going to lie to my friends, so I just said, ‘Oh, I ain’t coming back,'" she recalled. “Then I woke up this morning to text messages, phone calls, tags on the internet. I’m like, ‘What is going on!’ They’re like, ‘Well, you made some comments.’"

The A Black Lady Sketch Show alum assured fans that there was "no bad blood" or "bridges burned" with her departure and she was simply "having fun" at her comedy show.

"I love my people. I ain’t think none of this was going to be a big deal," she said, before joking, "See this is why Dave Chappelle make people lock up they phones."

"But yo, man, SNL was a dream I didn’t even know that I could achieve," she continued, concluding, "Man, I was a part of one of the most elite institutions in comedy, and I am so grateful for it. That’s still my people, I love them, I’mma be at the after parties acting a plum fool, but, you know, my time there has come to an end.”

Johnson captioned her post, "SNL I LOVE YOU… LOOKING FORWARD TO WHATS NEXT!!! 💙🫡#snl #49PUNKIE OUT!!!!✌🏽."

"I was like, 'If I get this job, that means that I'm supposed to do comedy,'" she said of auditioning for SNL.

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Season 50 of Saturday Night Live premieres Sept. 28 on NBC.

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