Lorne Michaels Confirms Cast Shake-Ups Coming to Saturday Night Live

According to Lorne Michaels, cast shake-ups are “for sure” coming to Saturday Night Live ahead of the upcoming Season 51 of the long-running sketch comedy show.

In an interview with Puck.News, Michaels said that the show had put off making changes until after SNL50: The Anniversary Special. “I wanted people coming back and being part of [the 50th season]. So when Kate [McKinnon] hosted, Kristen [Wiig] and Maya [Rudolph] came back for it. And that meant there couldn’t be those kind of disruptions [to the cast], or anything that was going to take the focus off [the 50th season].”

He added that casting changes will “be announced in a week or so,” though he did confirm that James Austin Johnson will return to play Donald Trump.

Michaels also addressed rumors that he’s retiring (he’s not) as well as handing off more duties (he is): “That’s already been happening [in] the past year or so. More people are involved in the choices and in the decisions.”

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The sage of sketch also gave more insight into the 50th Anniversary, including the decision to have Miley Cyrus sing Sinead O’Conner’s version of “Nothing Compares 2 U.” He said that he wished the late singer could have sang it herself.

If [O’Connor] were still alive, I would have asked her to sing that song. But it was represented by Miley singing it with so much power.”

Rumors and outside observers have long suggested that several longtime castmembers are planning to leave Saturday Night Live, including “Weekend Update” anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che. As for Michaels, he’s not slowing down, and plans to launch a UK version of the show in 2026.