Sherri Shepherd urges ‘SNL’ to cast a Black woman: ‘I don’t like hearing ... “We can’t find anyone”’
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- Sherri Shepherd called out ‘Saturday Night Live’ for having no Black female cast members after Ego Nwodim left, marking the first gap since 2013.
- The talk show host described it as ‘an emergency’ and suggested several comedians for consideration, pushing back on the notion that no one is available.
- ‘SNL’ has featured only eight Black female cast members in its 50-year history, with recent departures leaving the show without representation for its new season.
Sherri Shepherd used her platform to ask “Saturday Night Live” to hire another Black woman after the cast lost its only representation in Ego Nwodim.
“When I watched ‘Saturday Night Live’ this weekend, I did notice something was missing: Ego Nwodim left the show,” Shepherd said on a recent episode of her daytime show. “She was their only Black female cast member, so now there are no Black women on ‘SNL.”
After a blockbuster 50th season of “Saturday Night Live,” five new cast members will join the sketch series, which comes on the heels of several departures.
“Ya’ll gotta hurry up and you gotta find somebody, this is a ‘break glass in case of emergency.’ It is an emergency,” she added.
During its 50 years on the air, “SNL” has had only eight Black female cast members: Yvonne Hudson, Danitra Vance, Ellen Cleghorne, Maya Rudolph, Sasheer Zamata, Leslie Jones, Punkie Johnson and Ego Nwodim.
After the show announced its newest cast members in early September and before the start of Season 51, which began Oct. 4, Nwodim announced her departure. It is the first time since 2013 that “SNL” premiered without a Black woman in its cast.
Between Rudolph, who left in 2007, and Zamata, who was in the cast from 2014 to 2017, there was a seven-year gap without a Black woman in the cast.
Yang has emerged as a fan favorite on the venerable NBC sketch show, for which he just received his fourth Emmy nomination, by creating unexpected viral moments.
From 2020 to 2024, the cast included two black women in Nwodim and Johnson, but the latter left the show in 2024.
The show is infamous for being one of the toughest stages to dominate in comedy and previous cast members have expressed their feelings about it. During a celebration of the cast members leaving the show on the eve of its premiere, Johnson spoke to People about her pressure-laden experience.
“I feel like I could go out in Hollywood and handle anything because I handled every piece of adversity that went on in that building,” Johnson said. “I don’t think nothing could really break me no more because they honestly really built me up and made me strong mentally.”
Despite the IBS that the famed sketch-comedy show allegedly gives its cast members, “SNL” has lifted the careers of comedians like Rudolph and Jones. Shepherd pointed out a few options of people who she believes deserve a chance and should be considered by producer Lorne Michaels.
‘Saturday Night Live,’ returning for Season 51 Saturday, has long been a target of President Trump, who has voiced his distaste for the sketch comedy series.
“What I don’t like hearing is ‘We can’t find anyone,’” she said before putting her stamp of approval on a few comedians, including one of her staff members:
Tacarra Williams, B-Phlat and Yamaneika Saunders.
“And those are just three women who came on my show and were hysterical. So many more including my comedy producer Robin Montague, she is a comedy legend who keeps us laughing all day long,” she added.
Your move, Michaels.
