Devon Walker addresses SNL exit, says he and show are 'ready to turn the page': 'We both felt lik...

After three years as a cast member, Walker is departing alongside Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, and Emil Wakim. Devon Walker addresses SNL exit, says he an

After three years as a cast member, Walker is departing alongside Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, and Emil Wakim.

Devon Walker addresses SNL exit, says he and show are 'ready to turn the page': 'We both felt like it was time'

After three years as a cast member, Walker is departing alongside Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, and Emil Wakim.

By Shania Russell

August 31, 2025 12:22 p.m. ET

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Devon Walker as Shannon Sharpe on 'Saturday Night Live'. Credit:

Rosalind O'Connor/NBC

In the midst of *Saturday Night Live*'s recent cast shakeup, Devon Walker doesn't seem too torn up about bidding Studio 8H farewell.

Last week, the legendary NBC sketch show finally made good on creator Lorne Michaels' ominous promise of big changes coming to *SNL* ahead of season 51, as several cast and crew members shared bittersweet posts announcing their exits. And though Walker was among them, the comedian wants everyone to know that his departure was a mutual decision.

"The best way I put it is like me and the show kind of looked at each other and we decided together that it was time to go our separate ways," Walker said in an interview with *Rolling Stone* published Saturday. "I think I felt ready to leave the show, and I think the show felt ready to leave me. I was just ready to do something else. We both felt like it was time."

He continued, "This was such a big time commitment, and life commitment. There's been a lot of life stuff that I feel like I've had to miss out on. And I felt ready to do a different version of my life. I think that me and the show are both ready to turn the page."

Devon Walker on 'SNL' on March 29, 2025.

Walker is now looking onwards, excited about what's next in his career after gaining exposure from his three-year tenure on *SNL*.

"The thing that's really awesome about doing the show is it makes people aware of you," he said. "I got to do some work that I liked a lot. People got to see me. And now it's about expanding from there. I want to work with people that make things that I think are good, that I think are cool."

He added, "I'm proud of a lot of the work that I did on there, but wait till people get to see the stuff that I really want to do."

Here's who's leaving 'SNL' cast and who's returning for season 51

Former 'SNL' star Punkie Johnson also has whiplash over sudden cast exits: 'WTF is happening'

A stand-up comedian with writing credits on *Big Mouth* and* Everything's Trash*, Walker joined *SNL* in 2022 as a featured player for season 48. He was later promoted to the repertory cast after two seasons, just in time for a major moment in the sketch show's history: its huge 50th-anniversary celebration, in which Walker and other members of the show's newest generation starred alongside *SNL* royalty like Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, Kate McKinnon, and more. He noted that even as he leaves the show, his connection to those stars will never fade.

"There are people there who, even if you didn't know each other before, you forge a bond with," Walker explained. "It's like a fraternity on a certain level. I might see, like, Adam Sandler, you know, and he's talking about how there's a shorthand. Even though he went through the show 30 years before I ever got there, we know what it is. There's just an understanding that anybody who's ever worked there will always share."

Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Devon Walker, and host Timothée Chalamet on 'SNL' on Jan. 25, 2025.

Alongside Walker,* SNL*'s exodus has included cast members Heidi Gardner, Emil Wakim, and Michael Longfellow, as well as writers Celeste Yim and Rosebud Baker. The shakeup has yielded a dramatic fan response on social media, which Walker has addressed.

"Y'all acting like we died lol," he joked in a Thursday X post. "We just getting different jobs."

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When Walker announced his departure on Monday, he had a similarly breezy tone, assuring followers that his leaving is "good news" and adding, "It was just time for me to do something different."

He also got candid about his complex relationship with the show, admitting that his tenure was marked by highs and lows: "Sometimes it was really cool. Sometimes it was toxic as hell," he wrote on Instagram. "But … we made the most of what it was, even amidst all of the dysfunction. We made a f‑‑‑ed up lil family."

Earlier this summer, Michaels* *revealed that the cast would change ahead of season 51. As for who's sticking around, the *SNL* boss has only confirmed the return of resident Donald Trump impersonator James Austin Johnson.

*Saturday Night Live* returns for season 51 on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock.**

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