Punkie Johnson Leaving ‘Saturday Night Live’

At least one repertory player won’t be returning for Saturday Night Live‘s landmark Season 50 this fall.

Punkie Johnson (real name: Jessica Williams) is not returning to the sketch comedy series. Johnson joined the show as a featured player in Season 46 and was promoted to full-time status in Season 48.

In a video shared to social media Thursday (August 1), she explained, “I will not be returning to SNL for the 50th. All right, so last night, I had a ‘Punkie & Friends‘ show, and since it was some SNL cast and writers at the end of the show, I opened up the floor for questions. And everything was going fine until somebody asked, ‘What are you looking forward to most next season?’ I don’t remember the exact question. All I heard was me and ‘next season.'” (Molly Kearny, Devon Walker, and Michael Longfellow of SNL were also part of the event.)

The actress continued, “I didn’t want to lie to my friends, so I said, ‘Oh, I ain’t coming back.’ Then I woke up this morning to text messages, phone calls, tags on my internet, I’m like, ‘What is going on?!’ They go, ‘Well you made some comments.’ I was like, ‘It was a comedy show. I was just having fun!'”

“It’s no bad blood, it’s no bridges burnt, it’s no hard feelings. Bro, I love my people. I didn’t think none of this was going to be a big deal,” Punkie Johnson’s address continued. “This is why Dave Chappelle makes people lock up their phones.”

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On a more serious note, she concluded by saying, “Man, SNL was a dream I didn’t even know I could achieve. I was part of the most elite institutions in comedy, and I am so grateful for it. That’s still my people. I love them. I’m going to be at the afterparties acting a plum fool. But my time there has come to an end.”

 

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A post shared by Punkie Johnson (@punkiejohnson)

Rumors of her departure began circulating on social media after a fan who attended her comedy show Wednesday (July 31) night. The fan wrote, “Punkie is leaving SNL, she said this was fine to share online so I guess twitter is the first to know. It definitely wasn’t a joke either like she’s actually gone and she’s very happy about it.” The fan then added, “She also said the issues sort of started when she was told to lose her dreads and stop getting buff, which is kind of insane like wow this show does not even pretend to be good to its POC and queer cast members.”

She also said the issues sort of started when she was told to lose her dreads and stop getting buff, which is kind of insane like wow this show does not even pretend to be good to its POC and queer cast members https://t.co/eQkTe0yJ6u

— shayne (@swws2039) August 1, 2024

News of Punkie Johnson’s exit comes on the heels of reports that Maya Rudolph will be a more recurrent guest star for the new season as she continues her impressions of Vice President Kamala Harris, leading up to the 2024 presidential election.

NBC did not return TV Insider’s request for comment.

Saturday Night Live will return for Season 50 in the midseason this fall on NBC.