Bowen Yang opened up about his final week appearing on Saturday Night Live in the latest episode of his Las Culturalist as podcast. The 35-year-old comedian called the Wednesday installment of the show, which he hosts alongside Matt Rogers, 'Exit Interview.' His final appearance on the long-running late-night series was on December 20. For his ultimate skit, Yang portrayed a Delta employee who was leaving his job, alongside the night's host Ariana Grandeand musical guest Cher.

'I just looked out, and I thought, I’m so lucky that I ever got to work here, and I’m so lucky that I get to make this little statement that’s barely veiled, where I’m like, I love you all,' he explained to Rogers. Noting that it was his choice to leave SNL amid mass firings, he said: 'The current entertainment ecosystem is so turbulent that people have completely valid reasons for staying longer, or in a lot of cases, don’t have the privilege of staying on as long as they would like to.' He emphasized, 'I have this very beautiful thing where I get to say that I stayed on exactly as long as I wanted to. I was maybe unsure about going back in the summer, and I’m so glad I did.' Yang also shared the reassuring words he got from former SNL regular Amy Poehler: 'We’re all waiting for you on the other side.'

On Tuesday, he promoted the new podcast episode on Instagram, teasing, 'Tomorrow's @lasculturalistas in which @mattrogerstho conducts my SNL exit interview.' The morning after the news of his departure broke, the Wicked star took to Instagram to confirm his exit and share a heartfelt farewell. 'I loved working at SNL, and most of all I loved the people,' he began. 'I was there at a time when many things in the world started to seem futile, but working at 30 Rock taught me the value in showing up anyway when people make it worthwhile. I’m grateful for every minute of my time there,' he continued. 'I learned about myself (bad with wigs). I learned about others (generous, vulnerable, hot). I learned that human error can be nothing but correct. I learned that comedy is mostly logistics and that it will usually fail until it doesn’t, which is the besssst.'

He added a long list of personal thank-yous: 'Thank you to every single person who showed up there: friends and coworkers and audiences and hosts. Thank you Celeste, Sudi, Will, Alison, Julio, Fran, Drez, Bulla, Marty, John, Ben, Jimmy, Ceara, Deetch, Jake, Asha, Jack, Auguste, Tucker, Kent, Streeter, James, Alex, Jasmine, Gary, and Billy for writing with me. 'Thank you to every cast member for making me laugh and cry. To Liz and Don. Tom, Jodi, Louie, Eamon. Gena, Chris, Eddie. The crews, the pages. And to Audrey, Jameson, Cassandra and Chris for the fastest, funnest quick-changes in all of showbiz.

'Thank you to Ari for sending me off in the dreamiest way I could imagine. Thank you to Lorne for the job. For the standard. And for bringing everyone at work together. They all care deeply about people in the room, any room, enjoying themselves. I can’t believe I was ever included in that. The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready, but [expletive], I hope I am.' Yang joined SNL as a writer in 2018 before being promoted to the cast for Season 45.