As I sat watching the 51st season opener of Saturday Night Live this past weekend, there was something woefully amiss. While the late-night sketch series was entertaining enough with host Bad Bunny, musical performances by Doja Cat and the soft introduction of its newest cast members, the exit of Ego Nwodim, who announced she would be leaving the show after seven seasons, was louder than Colin Jost’s shouts as he parodied Pete Hegseth in the cold open.

Nwodim’s exit means that for the first time in years, SNL has no Black female performers — main or featured — in its cast. While I could make a bigger issue that the series seems to be lacking in female players across the board, the absence of a Black female cast member on a show that claims to reflect American culture feels like a grave ov

See Full Page