‘SNL’ Loses Yet Another Cast Member as Chris Redd Exits, Days Before Season Premiere

Chris Redd has left Saturday Night Live days before the show is set to premiere its latest season. The comedian, who has been on the show since 2017, is the latest cast member to step away from the late night sketch series, which is retuning for Season 48 next month.

NBC confirmed Redd’s departure on Monday, The New York Times reports, and Redd also released a statement addressing the news.

“Being a part of S.N.L has been the experience of a lifetime. Five years ago, I walked into 30 Rock knowing that this was an amazing opportunity for growth,” Redd shared. “Now, with friends who have become family and memories I will cherish forever, I’m grateful to Lorne Michaels and to the entire S.N.L. organization. From the bottom of my heart, I can’t thank you all enough.”

Following Redd’s exit, it’s hard to keep up with who is even left on SNL. Before he stepped away from the show, three other stars also left when Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor and Aristotle Athari all announced their exits earlier this month. And even before that, four of the show’s power players left in the first wave of SNL departures, when Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney and Pete Davidson all said goodbye in May.

Now, a handful of returning stars are coming back for Season 48: Heidi Gardner, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, James Austin, Punkie Johnson, Bowen Yang, Michael Che, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Cecily Strong and Kenan Thompson.

While SNL lost eight cast members between Season 47 and Season 48, the show has already acquired some bright new talent to fill their admittedly large shoes. Earlier this month, SNL added Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker as featured players for their upcoming season.

See their Studio 8H debut when SNL returns Oct. 1 on NBC. The show will also air new weekly episodes Oct. 8 and Oct. 15.