Live from New York, it's a "Saturday Night Live" cast overhaul.
Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor and Aristotle Athari will not be returning when the landmark sketch show returns for season 48 in the fall, E! News has learned.
Deadline first reported the news.
Moffat joined SNL as a featured player in 2016 and was bumped up to main cast member in 2018. He's best known for his impression of Eric Trump, alongside Mikey Day's Donald Trump Jr., on "Weekend Update." Moffat also took over the role of Joe Biden from Jim Carrey in December 2020, before ceding the impression to James Austin Johnson in November 2021.
Just like Moffat, Villaseñor joined the show as a featured player in 2016 before being upgraded to main cast member in 2018. Villaseñor became best known for her uncanny impressions of celebrities like Dolly Parton and Dua Lipa.
Athari joined SNL as a featured player in 2021, becoming only the second Iranian-American cast member in the show's history, following Nasim Pedrad.
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The three departures come during a massive time of change at "Saturday Night Live."
In May, longtime cast members Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney and Pete Davidson all announced they were leaving the show after season 47.
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During the May 22 season finale, Davidson said goodbye while poking fun at his public feud with Kanye West, Bryant's final appearance happened on Weekend Update alongside Bowen Yang and McKinnon gave an emotional farewell as her beloved character Miss Rafferty during the episode's cold open, boarding a spaceship and saying, "Thanks for letting me stay a while."
In May, SNL creator Lorne Michaels previously hinted to the New York Times, that "a year of change" may be in store ahead of season 48.
We'd say that's certainly come to fruition.
Season 48 of "Saturday Night Live" will premiere in NBC in the fall.
