Another Saturday Night Live star is bidding farewell to the long-running late-night sketch comedy show. Chloe Fineman announced on Thursday (July 16) that she is leaving the award-winning NBC program after seven seasons.
“I have decided it’s time for my next chapter,” the actress — who has delivered notable impressions of everyone from Britney Spears to JoJo Siwa and even first lady Melania Trump during her time on SNL — captioned her Instagram carousel post. “It’s cliche to say this but working at SNL has been the greatest privilege of my life. I still can’t really believe I got to be a part of it. I fell in love with the place the second I walked through the door. Lorne (if you’re reading this on your burner account) I want you to know that I am forever in your debt.”
Fineman went on to reflect on some of her memories working on the program, including seeing how hard the “wonderful” cast and crew worked, crying “uncontrollably” when a sketch she worked on wasn’t selected and more, and also shared her gratitude to show creator Lorne Michaels.
“You respect it so much that you give it absolutely everything you have even when it’s incredibly stupid,” she continued about SNL. “So you’re ecstatic when it works out and the most devastated you’ve ever been when it doesn’t. And in the end it doesn’t matter all that much but it did at the moment.”
But, Fineman acknowledged, it was time to wave goodbye. “It’s really hard to leave SNL but it does feel like the right time,” she shared. “I’m going to miss it a lot. But the people who work there are my family and that place is my home, and I know I’ll never be too far away.”
Billboard has reached out to Saturday Night Live‘s reps for comment.
Fineman made her SNL debut in 2019 at the start of season 45. She is the first star to announce her departure ahead of season 52’s fall premiere. Fellow Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang departed the show in the middle of season 51, while five cast members left before the start of that season.
Saturday Night Live currently streams on Peacock.
