Why Is Vanessa Bayer Leaving 'SNL'?
Vanessa Bayer confirmed her exit from "Saturday Night Live" through a social media post on Sunday.
According to Deadline, Bayer's contract with NBC's TV sketch comedy show expired by the end of season 42, which aired its season finale last Saturday that was hosted by Dwayne Johnson.
Bayer confirmed her exit through an Instagram post where she shared a sketch as a tribute for all the years she has been on the show.
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While NBC is yet to comment about Bayer leaving the show, the actress already shared her thoughts about her exit, stating in the said Instagram post: "Thank you SNL for 7 years of laughs, love and incredible memories. It has been a dream come true."
The Hollywood Reporter notes that the sketch is made up of the rewritten lyrics of the song "She's Always a Woman" by Billy Joel that recounts Bayer's time on SNL as well as her most memorable characters and impersonations.
Meanwhile, judging by Bayer's caption on the Instagram post, the sketch was possibly written by fellow SNL star Colin Jost as it said, "And thanks for this goodbye sketch at the table, Colin."
One line in the sketch says, "She plays little boys / But she's always a woman to me." It was clearly a nod to Bayer's well-known SNL character Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy who appears in the show's Weekend Update segment.
Another line in the Jost-written sketch recalled Bayer's popular impersonation of Miley Cyrus on SNL: "Then we hide like a child / 'Cuz she thinks we should try a Miley."
During the season 42 finale, Bayer did her last portrayal of her Dawn Lazarus character.
On the other hand, Bayer is not the only one leaving SNL after season 42. She is joined by Bobby Moynihan and Sasheer Zamata. Like Bayer, Moynihan did his last portrayal of one of his more famous characters on the show, the Drunk Uncle, during the last episode of season 42.
However, the 2017 graduation sketch of SNL only featured Moynihan and Bayer.
Meanwhile, Zamata was lifted up to the air by Jost and Johnson once the show went off air, according to some Instagram photos.
