Punkie Johnson and Molly Kearney, Two History-Making Cast Members Announce ‘Saturday Night Live’ Exits

Punkie Johnson and Molly Kearney etched their names into SNL’s history books, with Johnson as the first openly Black queer woman and Kearney as the first nonbinary cast member.

UPDATE AT 2:30PM PT ON 8/2/24

Molly Kearney, the first openly non-binary cast member in SNL history, also revealed their exit on Friday.

“Yall that’s a wrap on my time on SNL! Reflecting on the amazing 2 seasons I got on this show, it was such a dream come true,” they shared on Instagram. “So incredibly grateful for this period in my life. So much love to all my big hearted buddies behind the scenes who make the magic happen every week. So many bald caps, so little time. It was a true honor to work with such a talented group of writers and DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE CAST.”

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A post shared by Molly Kearney (@meatbrickmolly)

ORIGINAL STORY BELOW

Saturday Night Live cast member Punkie Johnson — whose real name is Jessica Williams — has called it quits after four seasons on the sketch show.

The 39-year-old comedian first announced her departure during her stand-up show “Punkie and Friends” at Brooklyn’s Union Hall … after an audience member asked, ‘What she is looking forward to next season?’

The sketch show is about to celebrate its landmark 50th season.

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A post shared by Punkie Johnson (@punkiejohnson)

Johnson then took to Instagram late Thursday to confirm the news to her followers as well, explaining the initial announcement came out because a lot of her SNL friends were in the audience.

“I just want to let you know after four seasons, I will not be returning to ‘SNL’ for the 50th,” Johnson said in an Instagram video Thursday, captioned “SNL I LOVE YOU … LOOKING FORWARD TO WHATS NEXT!!!”

“I don’t remember the exact question, all I heard was, ‘me and next season.’ I’m not going to lie to my friends, so I just said, ‘Oh, I ain’t coming back,'” she recalled in the video.

“Then I woke up this morning to text messages, phone calls, tags on the internet. I’m like, ‘What is going on!’ They’re like, ‘Well, you made some comments,'” she continued.

Johnson assured her followers that the SNL crew are still her “people” and that that there’s “no bad blood, no bridges burned, no hard feelings.”

“Bro, I love my people! I didn’t think none of this was going to be a big deal!” she exclaimed, before going on to call the sketch show “a dream I didn’t even know that I could achieve” and joking, “See, this is why Dave Chappelle makes people lock up their phones.”

“I was a part of one of the most elite institutions in comedy, and I am so grateful for it. That’s still my people. I love them. I’m gonna be at the after parties acting a plumb fool!” said Johnson.

“My time now has come to an end, and, um, Punkie outside now, y’all!”

Johnson made history as the show’s second openly queer black woman when landed a regular cast member spot in 2022.

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