Throughout Saturday Night Live's more than 50 years on the air, the show has had many cast members come and go. For example, the show's recent cast shakeup led to several of its cast members leaving. On top of that, several of the show's current stars have also landed additional gigs which could lead to their exits, including Bowen Yang's notable Wicked role and Colin Jost becoming the host of a game show.
One of the most notable SNL stars from the last several years who departed the show is Leslie Jones. Known for having a huge personality, Jones' comedic talents have allowed her to continue her career after leaving the legendary sketch comedy show. Since Jones is famous for seemingly being fearless, it makes sense that after leaving SNL, she hasn't been afraid to be outspoken about the show. Most recently, Jones expressed her opinion that SNL really needs to start searching for a new cast member soon.
Leslie Jones thinks Lorne Michaels needs to "search" for a new Black woman SNL cast member
In 2018, Ego Nwodim joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, and it didn't take long for her to become one of the show's highlights. Seemingly able to portray virtually any kind of character, Nwodim could seamlessly go from being the focus of a sketch in one moment to giving her co-stars the spotlight in the next. Easily one of SNL's most valuable cast members of the modern era, Nwodim leaving the show after the 50th season concluded was a huge loss.
Now that Nwodim has left SNL, the show isn't only missing her incredible comedic talents. It also seems impossible not to notice that the cast of the sketch comedy show now doesn't have any cast members who are Black women. In October 2025, Leslie Jones was interviewed by The Daily Beast, and she was asked about the show lacking that representation. While discussing that topic, Jones expressed her opinion that SNL boss Lorne Michaels needs to start a concerted search to find a talented and funny Black woman to join SNL's cast.
"Looking for a Black woman, it takes some time. This is what I would say for SNL, I would want them to start taking more time to do it. Because it does take a little bit more effort to find a Black woman cast member, to me, than it does a white woman cast member. I hate to say it that way, but you have to go and search for them. And they are out there."
She continued, "There are so many women I could send them, and I do. I go, ‘Hey, look at this girl, hey, look at this girl.’ I send them stuff all the time. And I don’t think they expected Ego to leave, but that’s the first thing I said when I went up there. I was like, ‘Wait a minute, there’s no Black women on the cast.’ I was like, ‘Are they gonna go back to the Black men playing the Black women?’"
Based on Jones' argument that SNL needs to add a Black woman cast member, some observers may assume that she was calling the show's boss out. In reality, Jones defended Michaels during that same interview. When asked about the cast not featuring any Black women currently, Jones immediately remarked on how difficult the SNL boss' job is. Jones also stated that she thought the sketch comedy show lacked that representation because its casting team doesn't see enough Black Women to consider.
"You know, me and Lorne talked about this a lot. It’s really hard to run that show. Lorne literally has to be a magician. He has to make people in Cali laugh and he has to make people in Omaha laugh—at the same thing. And I don’t think they get to see as many Black women as they need to see."