Reports of Aidy Bryant leaving Saturday Night Live were confirmed during a segment on Weekend Update during the Season 47 finale, as her and Bowen Yang’s popular “Trend Forecasters” added a touch of melancholy to their wildly over-the-top vibe.
The sketch involves Bryant and Yang breathlessly telling the audience what’s “in” (“Grapes with seeds!” “Tying cherry stems with tongue to impress for sex!” “Watermelon! Sugar! Song!”) and “out” (“Navel orange!”). It’s a bit that’s mostly reliant on the performers willingness to commit to a level of self-importance that would make foreign dignitaries and teenagers swoon. But lines like, “What’s next? Honeydews with c-section scars?!” deliver hard punchlines that the show sometimes otherwise lacks.
It’s fun to watch them berate co-anchor Michael Che (who inevitably ends the bit by wearing all the things they’ve just said are out of fashion) and even more fun to watch them try to make one another break by randomly slamming the desk or trying to cram even more drama into a line reading as the two press their heads together.
But the final category, “Future Trends,” saw the duo slip in a little honesty. In: “Ten nice years” — as in Bryant’s tenure on SNL. In: “A friend I couldn’t have done this without,” says Yang about his partner. In: “My best guys kissing me,” she says to end the sketch as both Che and Yang lean in for a smooch. It’s a sweet moment and a deserving send-off for one of her most memorable characters, even if the subtext is, “Go to bed, bitch!”
Watch video below, and weigh in on Bryant’s exit:
https://twitter.com/nbcsnl/status/1528238458082295809/video/1
Bryant, along with Kate McKinnon, Pete Davidson and Kyle Mooney, all were rumored to exit Saturday Night Live after this weekend’s season finale.
Davidson officially announced his split with the show on Saturday afternoon (via SNL writer Dave Sirus’ Instagram), saying of his eight-year run, “I owe Lorne Michaels and everyone at SNL my life. I’m so grateful and I wouldn’t be here without them.” (Read Davidson’s full statement here.)
McKinnon meanwhile bid her farewell with an early sketch during the finale, reprising her alien-abducted Mrs. Rafferty character, and tearfully waving goodbye to Earth/the audience at the end.
Bryant and McKinnon are the longest-tenured cast members of the four, with both joining the show in 2012. McKinnon became a breakout star, thanks to impressions of Hillary Clinton, Justin Bieber and Ellen DeGeneres; she earned eight Emmy nominations for best supporting actress in a comedy, winning the award in 2016 and 2017.