Season 50 starred Johnson, Michael Che, Colin Jost, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Kenan Thompson, Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Marcello Hernandez, Andrew Dismukes, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker. Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim and Jane Wickline appeared as featured players.

Walker's announcement comes as “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels is saying that he anticipates changes following the show's historic 50th season. No cast members had announced their departure following the season's conclusion. In an interview with Puck that ran last week, Michaels answered “yes” when asked if he expected to “shake things up.”

For context, Punkie Johnson, Molly Kearney and Chloe Troast exited after Season 49, leaving the rest of the cast the same. While there were additions too, for the most part, the ensemble was consistent from season to season.