Punkie Johnson, a performer on the NBC sketch comedy series “Saturday Night Live” since 2020, announced on Thursday that she will not return this fall for the show’s 50th season.
Johnson, who played characters on “S.N.L.” including Vice President Kamala Harris and the women’s basketball star Angel Reese, first said she was leaving during a stand-up comedy set on Wednesday at Union Hall in Brooklyn.
She posted a video on her Instagram account the next day, confirming her decision to leave the show. She said that she was not leaving on bad terms, however, as some audience members had understood some of her onstage comments to imply.
Johnson had told the Union Hall audience that “S.N.L.” staff wanted her to change her hair and to stop working out so much and looking “buff.” She had also mentioned a heated argument with a talent producer, adding that being on the show had been stressing her out and that she was happier since having decided to leave.
An NBC employee confirmed that Johnson was leaving the show but did not respond to questions about Johnson’s onstage comments about the circumstances of her departure.
In her Instagram video, Johnson said she had woken up to text messages and phone calls about the comments.
“I’m like, it was a comedy show!” she said. “I was just having fun! It’s no bad blood; it’s no bridges burnt; it’s no hard feelings.”
Born and raised in New Orleans, Johnson, 39, moved to Los Angeles to start her comedy career and worked as a server at the Comedy Store before she was made a paid regular onstage. Johnson joined “S.N.L.” for the show’s 46th season as a featured player and was promoted to the regular cast in 2022.
Johnson was also the first openly lesbian Black cast member of “S.N.L.” (An earlier Black lesbian cast member, Danitra Vance, was not publicly out while on the show in the 1980s.)
Johnson’s other screen roles have included the HBO series “Love Life” and “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” the Netflix series “Space Force” and the fight-club buddy comedy movie “Bottoms.”
She is so far the only “S.N.L” cast member who has announced a departure ahead of the new season, which begins on Sept. 28.
Genevieve Ko contributed reporting.
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