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‘SNL’ Loses Another Cast Member In Mass Exodus

(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for American Museum of Natural History)

Kay Smythe News and Commentary Writer
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“Saturday Night Live” cast member Chris Redd won’t be returning for season 48 of the show, according to reports released Monday.

Redd, who spent the past five seasons on SNL, is the latest in a slew of veteran cast members to depart the late night sketch show, Deadline reported. The comedian is currently developing a feature film with Universal Studios called “Cyber Monday,” and has a stand-up special scheduled with HBO Max, the outlet continued.

He joins the likes of Melissa Villaseñor, Alex Moffat, Aristotle Athari, Kate McKinnon, Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney, all of whom have left the show since the finale of season 47. The next season launches on Oct. 1 with four new cast members, according to Deadline.

Former cast member David Spade told TMZ in May that he wasn’t shocked by the mass exodus from SNL, noting that the experience is “such a fucking beating, you know, it’s tough on the brains and it’s tough on the body, and it’s just a hard place to be.” (RELATED: ‘Is My Brain Okay’ SNL Skit Rips The Real Life Impact Of COVID Lockdowns… And It’s Terrifyingly Accurate)

Another former cast member, Rob Schneider, echoed Spade’s sentiment, but suggested the exodus could have more to do with audience backlash to SNL’s ongoing political commentary. “When Hillary Clinton lost — which is understandable. She’s not exactly the most likable person in the room — and then when Kate McKinnon went out there on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in the cold opening and all that, and she started dressed as Hillary Clinton, and she started playing ‘Hallelujah.’ I literally prayed, ‘Please have a joke at the end,'” Schneider told podcaster Glenn Beck.