SNL Announces Cast Shake-Up for 47th Season

After eight seasons with Saturday Night Live, Beck Bennett is leaving the cast. The sketch comedy show on Monday announced the cast for its 47th season, which premieres Saturday. The only other cast member exiting is Lauren Holt, who just joined SNL this past season, Deadline reports. Three new featured players, Aristotle Athari, James Austin Johnson, and Sarah Sherman, are joining the cast, while Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang have been promoted to the main cast, the New York Post reports.

"Love you, SNL. Gonna miss you so much," Bennett, known for playing Mike Pence and Vladimir Putin on the show, wrote on Instagram. "Thank you for 8 years of remarkable people and incredible experiences that completely changed my life. I had so much fun." Fans were mourning him on Twitter. "SNL is losing the incredible Beck Bennett and that really sucks," writes one. "The only thing that makes this bearable is news that Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong, Pete Davidson and Kate McKinnon are back for another season." Reporter Dave Itzkoff notes those four were thought to be "on the bubble," but sources tell Deadline that Lorne Michaels is "more flexible" these days about bigger stars combining SNL with other projects. (More Saturday Night Live stories.)