NBC
The writing was on the wall earlier this year when Cecily Strong missed a handful of Saturday Night Live episodes to perform on stage in a revival of The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. Now, after 11 seasons in the cast, Strong made her mid-season departure official during the last SNL episode of 2022.
“Tonight we send off one of the best to ever do it,” the show’s Instagram account posted ahead of the live broadcast. “We’ll miss you, Cecily!”
Strong, who was nominated for her work on SNL at both the 2020 and 2021 Emmy Awards, got the chance to bring back her shouting Kimberly Guilfoyle in the cold open. Later, she shined as an elderly super fan of Sarah Sherman’s “Jewish Elvis” alongside host Austin Butler. But “Weekend Update” is where she always burned the brightest and it was there that she got the epic send-off she deserved.