Devon Walker’s Exit From SNL: A Breakup, A Burnout, or Both?

In the note typed out on a plain computer screen like a diary entry — Walker didn’t sugarcoat his experience.

“Sometimes it was really cool. Sometimes it was toxic as hell,” he admitted, before describing the cast and crew as “a f****d up lil family.” That line alone captured what many longtime fans already suspect about SNL: behind the sketches, there’s as much dysfunction as there is laughter.

Did He Quit or Was He Pushed Out?

Walker himself leaned into the ambiguity. 

The top of his statement cheekily reads: “wait… did he quit or did he get fired?”It’s the kind of question only SNL insiders know the real answer to, but Walker didn’t seem interested in clarifying. Instead, he treated the departure like ending a relationship: bittersweet, inevitable, and maybe overdue. His carousel of Instagram slides reinforced that mood — candid behind-the-scenes photos, a text that simply read “I’m out,” and even a meme-worthy shot of President Biden stumbling on stairs in the rain. The caption? “Me and my baby broke up.”

From Sketches to Something Else

Walker’s run on SNL began in Season 48 as a featured player before he was bumped up to repertory cast status for Seasons 49 and 50. Prior to sketch comedy’s most infamous stage, he sharpened his writing chops on Netflix’s Big Mouth and Freeform’s Everything’s Trash.

His departure raises the usual questions: will he vanish into Hollywood’s sea of ex-SNL talent, or pivot toward something bigger maybe stand-up tours, a streaming special, or the kind of character-driven writing that defined his early career?

“Little Marriages” and Creative Burnout

In perhaps the most telling part of his farewell, Walker reflected on the fleeting nature of jobs in entertainment:

Some of ’em last a long time if we’re lucky, but most of them are fleeting. Permanent until they’re not. That’s the deal.”

It’s an oddly poetic description for a comedy gig known for chewing people up and spitting them out. For Walker, leaving SNL doesn’t seem like failure or triumph. It feels more like shedding a skin, a necessary move to survive and evolve.

What This Means for SNL Fans

For viewers, Walker’s departure is another reminder of the show’s revolving door. Cast members cycle in and out, often with little fanfare, but each exit leaves behind a trace of the cultural moment they helped shape.

Whether Walker’s tenure will be remembered for specific sketches or simply for the honesty of his goodbye, one thing’s clear: his break-up with SNL is the kind of messy, complicated ending that feels strangely… human.