Cecily Strong Is Leaving Saturday Night Live Halfway Through Season 48

"Saturday Night Live" has seen quite the exodus of cast members over the past year. At the end of season 47 back in May, the series bid farewell to Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, and Kyle Mooney. Then, before season 48 began this past fall, Alex Moffat and Melissa Villaseñor left the series along with featured player Aristotle Athari. Finally, the last cast member to walk away from the series was Chris Redd, just a couple weeks before the show's season premiere. Unfortunately, one more cast member has announced their departure, and sadly, it will before the end of season 48.

The official "Saturday Night Live" account on Twitter announced that Cecily Strong would be saying farewell.

Tonight we send off one of the best to ever do it. We'll miss you, Cecily! pic.twitter.com/zsoGfw8SdP

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) December 18, 2022

Cecily Strong has been on "SNL" since 2012. The current 48th season marks her 11th season on the series, but she will not be finishing out the rest of the season, with the December 17 episode hosted by "Elvis" star Austin Butler marking her final episode as a cast member.

Cecily Strong has become one of the most beloved cast members on "SNL" after spending over a decade playing various original characters and delivering a myriad of spot-on impressions of real-life figures from news and pop culture. 

When it comes to impersonations, Strong masterfully mocked political figures like Tulsi Gabbard, Kyrsten Sinema, Liz Cheney, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Dianne Feinstein, and most famously, the wine-fueled antics of Judge Jeanine Pirro (seen above). She's also dabbled in playing pop culture figures like Alanis Morissette, Fran Drescher, Rosie Perez, Olivia Colman, Sofia Vergara, Liza Minnelli, Khloé Kardashian, and Kendall Jenner.

But it's Strong's original characters who have had even more staying power. At the Weekend Update desk, she's made waves as The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party, as well as the demented Cathy Ann. Strong was also a staple of a few recurring sketches alongside cast members who have since left the series. She was an ex-porn star alongside Vanessa Bayer constantly trying to shill products, she co-hosted a teen talk show with Aidy Bryant, and she had some meaningful encounters with aliens alongside Kate McKinnon.

More recently, Strong made waves with a Weekend Update appearance that found her getting personal about the hot button issue of abortion:

Strong wasn't around for the first part of the season due to a prior commitment in a stage production, but she returned after a few episodes away and has been stellar even since she's been back. Considering her preoccupation with other projects, including a second season of "Schmigadoon!" at Apple TV+, fans had been wondering if this might be the comedian's last season, but no one expected her to leave halfway through season 48. She will certainly be missed, but the more recent cast members and newest roster of featured players have been quite impressive, so the show still has plenty of talent to go around.