Why Is Taran Killam Leaving ‘Saturday Night Live?’ Comedian Comments On Shocking Exit

If you were expecting Taran Killam to be a part of the “Saturday Night Live” cast next season think again, because he was just let go one year short of his contract expiring.

In an interview with Uproxx, the 34-year-old said he had no idea why he was ousted, although he planned to make the 42nd season of the show his last anyway.

“I don’t know fully,” Killam explained. “I don’t know the other side of it. You sign for seven years, so I had one more year. I had sort of had it in my head I would make this upcoming year my last year, but then heard they weren’t going to pick up my contract.”

In addition, the comedian said he’s in the middle of directing a film titled “Why We’re Killing Gunther,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it would have been difficult to handle that job and his “SNL” responsibilities at the same time.

“But I do know I’m directing this movie, and I’ll have two months of post-production that would have bled into the ‘SNL’ production schedule, so we kind of communicated that,” he explained.

If you recall, Killam joined “Saturday Night Live” in 2010 after being a part of the “Madtv” cast. Before that, he was a part of “Nick Cannon Presents: ‘Wild ‘N Out,” and prior to that he was on Nickelodeon with Amanda Bynes on “The Amanda Show.”

During his time on “SNL,” you might have seen the California native play Jebbidiah Atkinson on “Weekend Update” or impersonate former Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, but more than acting in those skits Killam said he’ll miss others on the show.

He also talked about seeing some of his old cast mates on his last day of taping.

“The beauty of that job is you’re given several of those every year,” Killam said about the skits.

”In what is now my last episode, the fact that Fred Armisen hosted — who is always, always my favorite person to watch at the table read — and Andy Samberg was back and Jason Sudeikis was back and Maya Rudolph was there. Fred was always good about including everybody like that … Just feeling like a member of a team felt really special,” he added.

Besides Killam, Jay Pharoah was also let go, as well as Jon Ruditsky, which was confirmed by NBC News.

As of now, there’s no telling who will replace the three funny men, but Killam said he doesn’t have any regrets, because being on “SNL” was his dream. At the same time, however, it was difficult for him to leave.

“It’s always hard and sad to say goodbye,” he explained. “But it feels like an appropriate time and I am so, so grateful to have been a cast member on “Saturday Night Live.”