One of “Saturday Night Live’s” major stars is moving on after seven seasons.
Chloe Fineman announced on Instagram Thursday that she will be leaving SNL as the long-running variety show prepares for its 52nd season.
“It’s really hard to leave SNL but it does feel like the right time. I’m going to miss it a lot,” she wrote in a post announcing her departure.
“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.”
Fineman is the first cast member to leave after season 51’s finale.
The 37-year-old joined the show in 2019 and became a full-time cast member in 2021. She was best known for her impressions of first lady Melania Trump, actors Timothee Chalamet and Drew Barrymore, as well as Australian Olympic breaker Raygun.
The actor said she left on her own accord, calling her time at the show the greatest privilege of her 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,” she said.
“Every day I was lucky enough to be surrounded by the best people in the business, and I was constantly amazed watching them work.”
She recalled sewing a JoJo Siwa costume in 10 hours, writing a cold open on a Saturday afternoon, and completing video work minutes before a dress rehearsal.
“You sob uncontrollably when your sketch isn’t picked. You storm into a producer’s office telling them they just made the biggest mistake of their lives. You call everyone you know to complain. And then you look back a few years later and it was a sketch called “lipstick for thicc dogs,” she wrote.
“But that’s just the show. You respect it so much that you give it absolutely everything you have even when it’s incredibly stupid,” she added. “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.
“I swear to God, one day, sometime in the future, they WILL make lipstick for thicc dogs.”
Natalie Portman commented on Fineman’s post, saying she was excited to see what she’ll do next. Reese Witherspoon also commented to say Fineman’s characters blended being clueless and unhinged perfectly.
