&34;I understand it's show business and it's cutthroat,&34; the comedian said, &34;but people have lives, and people deserve to know the status of their job at

"I understand it's show business and it's cutthroat," the comedian said, "but people have lives, and people deserve to know the status of their job at a reasonable juncture."

Devon Walker explains calling Saturday Night Live 'toxic' after exit: 'We're human beings'

"I understand it's show business and it's cutthroat," the comedian said, "but people have lives, and people deserve to know the status of their job at a reasonable juncture."

By Wesley Stenzel

September 3, 2025 8:16 p.m. ET

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Devon Walker on 'Saturday Night Live'. Credit:

- Devon Walker explained why he called *Saturday Night Live* "toxic" as he announced his exit from the show.

- The comedian criticized the show for not communicating the cast's employment status until the end of the summer.

- Walker opined that the show's culture would improve if it added "a sprinkle of humanity."

Devon Walker called *Saturday Night Live* "toxic" as he announced his exit from the show — and now, he's expanding on that opinion.

The comedian, who worked on the show for three seasons, explained why he thinks *SNL* has toxic elements in its workplace culture during an interview with *Variety*.

"There is a measure of humanity that the show could benefit from," Walker opined. "What ends up happening over the summer is oftentimes people are left hanging with big life decisions — people trying to start families or buy homes — and there's no word from the show about whether they have their job. The show won't tell them all summer and then will ultimately end up firing them when there's been months of them trying to work their situation out."

Representatives for *Saturday Night Live* did not immediately respond to **'s request for comment.

Devon Walker at the American Museum of Natural History's 2024 gala.

Slaven Vlasic/Getty for the American Museum of Natural History

Walker's original comment about the show's alleged toxicity came in the context of explaining his complex feelings about the show. "Me and the show did three years together, and sometimes it was really cool. Sometimes it was toxic as hell," he wrote on Instagram. "But ... we made the most of what it was, even amidst all of the dysfunction. We made a f‑‑‑ed up lil family."

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Elsewhere in the interview, Walker clarified that he was not among the former *SNL* employees with significant life decisions hanging in the balance of their tenure on the show.

"That wasn't my situation, but I've known of situations where that's happened," he said. "If there's one thing I hope for the future of the show, it's that a sprinkle of humanity could be added into it. I understand it's show business and it's cutthroat, but people have lives, and people deserve to know the status of their job at a reasonable juncture. Most people are told they're coming back to work in a week."

Walker, who previously said that his exit from the show was a mutual decision, recognized that "devoting yourself to the time commitment of the show is just part of it," noting that *SNL* employees are expected to "get in line with that" commitment. "But again, on the measure of transparency and clarity around people's employment… We're human beings," he reiterated. "We've got food to put on the table. Some of us support other people in our lives, and we're not making millions of dollars on the show. It's not like we're good indefinitely once we leave."

Devon Walker at 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' in New York City.

John Nacion/Variety via Getty

*SNL* recently parted ways with cast members Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, and Emil Wakim. The show also said goodbye to writers Celeste Yim, Rosebud Baker, and John Higgins. Ben Marshall, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson, and Veronika Slowikowska have all joined the cast as featured players. All of these personnel shakeups have been revealed within the last two weeks, falling within that end-of-summer timeline that Walker observed.

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Walker is not the first *SNL* alum to call out the show's staffing timeline. Jenny Slate, who performed on season 35 of the show, said that she found out she had been let go from the cast via an online news post. "At the end of the year, I was like, 'All right, I had a rough go,' but I remember Seth [Meyers] saying to me at the final party, 'You're gonna be a force of nature next year,'" she told Marc Maron on *WTF* in 2014. "And then I remember like a week later, suddenly having this feeling, I was like, 'No, I'm not. I'm gonna get fired.' And then I just waited all summer to get fired."

*Saturday Night Live* returns for season 51 on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock.

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