Chloe Fineman says SNL exit has her crying ‘sweet tears’
The comedian said leaving Saturday Night Live before season 52 is hard, but feels like the right move after joining the cast in 2019.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
2 min read
Chloe Fineman is saying goodbye to Studio 8H with a full heart and, by her own account, plenty of tears.
The comedian will not be back for the 52nd season of Saturday Night Live, Rolling Stone reported, and she spoke publicly about the decision four days after confirming her departure. On the red carpet for The Dink, a comedy she co-stars in, Fineman told The Hollywood Reporter that the exit is “bittersweet.”
Fineman said she was proud of her time on the NBC sketch institution, while acknowledging that walking away has not been easy. She described the show as a demanding workplace because of the schedule, but said the people made it feel like family.
She also told The Hollywood Reporter that former castmate Colin Jost had called her because it was her birthday, and that the call made her cry. Fineman said people from the show had been reaching out to her, calling it “the sweetest show” and saying she had been crying “sweet tears.”
The performer had already framed the move as a tough but natural step in an Instagram post confirming her exit the previous week. In that post, she wrote that leaving SNL was difficult, but that it felt like the right moment.
Fineman added on Instagram that she would miss the show and called the people who work there her family. She also described the place as her home and said she did not expect to be far from it.
From featured player to familiar face
Fineman joined Saturday Night Live as a featured cast member for the 2019-20 season, according to Rolling Stone. Her run put her in one of television’s most visible comedy jobs, with the weekly rhythm of live sketches, impressions and topical bits.
Outside SNL, Fineman has built a screen résumé across television, film and animation. Rolling Stone noted her voice work on Big Mouth and The Simpsons, along with appearances in projects including Laid, Megalopolis, Search Party and Freakier Friday.
Her latest project, The Dink, pairs her with Jake Johnson and Ben Stiller. Rolling Stone described the film as a comedy about a former tennis professional who tries to bring a club back to life by playing pickleball.
For now, Fineman’s public comments suggest a clean break with no burned bridges: a farewell to a job she says she loved, a workplace she called hard, and a cast and crew she described as family.
This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.