SNL alum Devon Walker opens up about sudden exit from toxic show ahead of new season

“Saturday Night Live” star Devon Walker has opened up about his sudden exit from the show after only three seasons.The comedian, who called the popular sketch comedy “toxic as hell” upon announcing his departure last week, discussed why the series “doesn’t need to be that way” during an interview with Variety published Wednesday, Sept.3.“If you read about the show, if you’re knowledgeable about it at all, you can certainly pick up on things that are toxic about it,” Walker, 34, began.

“The show hasn’t changed much in all the years they’ve been doing it.”“There are things that went down on the show that I wouldn’t talk about for free,” he added.“There are a lot of things I’m still trying to find the right avenue to go into detail about.”After pausing and thinking about what “SNL” could “benefit from” after 50 seasons, Walker argued that it could use a “measure of humanity.”“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,” he explained.“The show won’t tell them all summer and then will ultimately end up firing them when there’ve been months of them trying to work their situation out,” he continued.

“That wasn’t my situation, but I’ve known of situations where that’s happened.”Although Walker has not clarified whether he left “SNL” voluntarily or was axed by creator Lorne Michaels, he asserted that the show could be more accommodating when it came to cutting main cast members loose.“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,” he shared.“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 ...