Bowen Yang Responds to Nikki Haley’s SNL Appearance

Saturday Night Live is finding itself in some hot water over the inclusion of former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in a recent episode. During Saturday’s edition featuring Emmy-winner Ayo Edebiri in her first stint as host on live sketch comedy, Haley appeared in the show’s cold open. The segment featured a discussion between her and James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump, with Haley and Trump being the only two candidates left battling in the GOP’s presidential primaries this election cycle.

SNL favorite has now seemingly thrown shade at Lorne Michaels’ booking of Haley in a recent social media post. Monday, Yang shared an image of a note Michaels wrote for Haley in her dressing room which read “Amb. Haley-welcome to Studio 8H! From Lorne + everyone at SNL.” In the now-deleted Instagram post, Yang shared the image with his own caption reading, “everyone! :)”

Shortly after Haley appeared, SNL went on to announce the hosting debut of Shane Gillis, a comedian previously set to join the show prior to Season 45 until he was fired before a single episode once old racially-charged jokes surfaced online.

“I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss,” Gillis wrote of his firing in 2020. “If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you’re going to find a lot of bad misses. I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve ever said. My intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks.”

In the viral clip that surfaced, Gillis used a racial slur denigrating Chinese people, as well as saying things about Chinatown and insulting interactions with waiters at Chinese restaurants.

Who is in the Saturday Night Live cast?

Cast members for Saturday Night Live season 49 inlude almost the entire cast from season 48 of SNL. Returning stars include Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, James Austin Johnson, Punkie Johnson, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, and Bowen Yang. Featured players that are part of the cast include returning stars Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker, plus the show’s only fully new cast member for the year, newcomer Chloe Troast. The comedy troupe Please Don’t Destroy, made up of Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy, are also a recurring part of the series.