{"id":188518,"date":"2025-08-31T03:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T03:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/188518\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T03:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T03:03:08","slug":"devon-walker-says-leaving-snl-was-a-mutual-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/188518\/","title":{"rendered":"Devon Walker Says Leaving ‘SNL’ Was A Mutual Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWhile Devon Walker<\/a> indicated earlier this week that Saturday Night Live<\/a> fans are perhaps taking his and his fellow cast members\u2019 departures harder than the actors themselves, the former repertory player revealed today the decision to leave was a mutual one.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe big question,\u201d Walker began when asked by Rolling Stone in a new interview<\/a> if his exit was by choice. \u201cTo be frank, I guess the best way I put it is like me and the show kind of looked at each other and we decided together that it was time to go our separate ways. I think I felt ready to leave the show, and I think the show felt ready to leave me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe continued, \u201cI was just ready to do something else. We both felt like it was time. This was such a big time commitment, and life commitment. There\u2019s been a lot of life stuff that I feel like I\u2019ve had to miss out on. And I felt ready to do a different version of my life. I think that me and the show are both ready to turn the page.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tElsewhere in the interview, Walker indicated he is currently exploring deals related to his music-themed comedy podcast My Favorite Lyrics<\/a> and hopes to foray into dramatic television.<\/p>\n

\n\tWalker was the first SNL<\/a> member to announce his departure<\/a> ahead of Season 51 of the Lorne Michaels<\/a>-led late-night sketch series, which returns Oct. 4. The actor, who\u00a0joined in 2022 as a featured player\u00a0<\/a>and was\u00a0promoted last season ahead of the show\u2019s 50th\u00a0anniversary<\/a>, has impersonated the likes of Frank Ocean, Michael Strahan, Shannon Sharpe, Draymond Green and Eric Adams throughout his tenure.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMe and the show did three years together, and sometimes it was really cool,\u201d he wrote on Instagram<\/a> Monday. \u201cSometimes it was toxic as hell. But we did what we made the most of what it was, even amidst all of the dysfunction. We made a f\u2014ed up lil family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJust days later, Emil Wakim<\/a>, Michael Longfellow<\/a> and Heidi Gardner<\/a> would also join Walker in exiting<\/a>. As Michaels cleaned house, alumna Punkie Johnson<\/a> commented<\/a>: \u201cWTF is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFollowing an outpouring of fan support (and ire toward Michaels), Walker took to X in hopes of assuaging viewers\u2019 intense reactions<\/a>: \u201cYall acting like we died lol we just getting different jobs,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n