Punkie Johnson’s relationship with “Saturday Night Live” “remains strong,” even if she won’t be among the cast members returning for its 50th season.
“We mutually understood that it was not my area,” the comedian said Wednesday, shedding more light on her recent departure.
Johnson, who joined the NBC sketch series in 2020, reunited with her “SNL” co-stars David Spade and Dana Carvey on their “Fly on the Wall” podcast, where she detailed the circumstances that led to her exit. The “Bottoms” actress, who got her start in stand-up, said she had been meaning to leave the show for quite some time.
Johnson said she always felt out of place on “SNL.” “I never grew up in the sketch world, I never went to sketch school and I didn’t really feel like I fit in,” she said, before adding, “[‘SNL’] “It’s for a different kind of person.”
The New Orleans comedian said she felt her “multi-colored” style differed from the structure that defines “SNL” and its sketches. When she joined the cast, she said, she thought “everyone else was coming from stand-up.” That wasn’t always the case.
“Did you all go to school for this? To be here?” she recalled thinking at the time.
Johnson said he had a hard time getting enough airtime, noting that at one point he was “just [got] Maybe two or three [sketches] “throughout the season.” With more than 20 cast members, “SNL” has “a lot of mouths to feed,” Johnson agreed with the podcast hosts.
Johnson, who wasn’t sure she fit in on the show, said she wanted to leave SNL before season 49. Her team convinced her to stay: “Well, Punkie, you need a plan. You can’t just quit your job.”
“SNL” Season 49 got off to a “tremendous” start for Johnson. With the help of writer Ben Silva, the comedian said, she landed three or four sketches in the first half of the season. It made her think, “Oh, man, I’m killing it. It’s like this is my season.” She said Silva helped translate her ideas into sketch material, joking, “I knew how to speak Punkie.”
After Silva left “SNL” to focus on her personal life, Johnson said she “went into a spiral” and reconsidered her role on the series. Johnson announced in late July during a comedy show that she would not be returning to “SNL.”
“I opened the floor for questions and everything was going well until someone asked, ‘What are you most looking forward to about next season?'” Johnson said in an Instagram video posted on Aug. 1. “I’m not going to lie to my friends, so I was just like, ‘Oh, I’m not coming back. ’”
Johnson said he has since received offers to audition and work on new projects, including a movie and a special.
After breaking the news of his departure, Johnson said he thanked “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels for the opportunity. The comedy legend has been “so supportive” and is one of “only four men in this business who really believed in me.”
“He's just my man,” Johnson said.
Two years after joining “SNL,” Johnson was granted repertory status in 2022. She became the eighth Black woman to be a cast member on the show. She also became the second LGBTQ+ Black woman to be a cast member after comedian Danitra Vance, who did not come out as gay during her tenure in the mid-1980s.
Johnson continues his “SNL” run with his Childish & Petty tour with comedian Dicey.
