Emil Wakim is the latest comedian to exit SNL.
Wakim announced his departure on Instagram Wednesday, Aug. 27, saying he got the call that he was being let go while spending time with friends.
“I won’t be returning to SNL next year,” Wakim began. “It was a gut punch of a call to get but I’m so grateful for my time there. I was at Six Flags celebrating my friend’s 36th birthday and went on a really emotional walk through bugs bunny park and stared out across daffy duck lake thinking about life.”
Related: Devon Walker Exits ‘SNL’ Days After Creator Hints at Shakeup
The comedian included a gallery of photos from his time on Saturday Night Live and said the experience changed his life.
“Every time I scanned into the building I would think how insane it is to get to work there,” he continued. “It was the most terrifying, thrilling, and rewarding experience of my life and I will miss it dearly and all the brilliant people that work there that made it feel like a home.”
Wakim thanked SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels “for taking a chance on me,” and ended his post with a heart emoji.
The comedian was the show’s first Lebanese-American cast member. In a recent interview with Esquire Middle East, the Chicago native said his parents are both doctors and his family was a little surprised when he decided on “making jokes for a living.”
Before SNL, he appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and opened for Roy Wood Jr., Nikki Glaser, and Hasan Minhaj.
His exit from SNL follows the departures this week of comedian Devon Walker and writer Celeste Yim.
Walker announced he was leaving the show after three years in a statement he posted to Instagram on Monday, Aug. 25.
“To me, jobs in this industry feel like a bunch of little marriages. Some of em last for a long time if we’re lucky, but most of them are fleeting. Permanent until they’re not. That’s the deal. You know what it is when you sign up,” he wrote.
Yim shared on Instagram Aug. 24, “After five seasons, I’m leaving my job at Saturday Night Live. Lorne hired me over the phone when I was 23 and the job literally made all of my dreams come true BUT it was also grueling and I slept in my office every week BUT my friends helped me with everything BUT I got yelled at by random famous men BUT some famous girls too BUT I loved it and I laughed every day and it’s where I grew up.”
The changes come after Michaels hinted there would be a shakeup on the late-night show for its 51st season. In an interview with Puck News, published on Aug. 22, he said expect changes to be “announced in a week or so.”
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