Ariana Grande was grateful to celebrate her friend Bowen Yang’s Saturday Night Live swan song in person.
“I love you more than words can say and I am just so very proud of you and all of the eggnog you’ve made over the years,” Grande, 32, wrote via her Instagram Stories on Sunday, December 21, sharing footage of Yang, 35, performing in his final skit during the live show.
She continued, “It meant more than words can say to have been there for your sendoff last night. Happy trails, my brilliant and beautiful friend.”
Grande hosted the Saturday, December 20, episode of SNL, Yang’s final as a cast member.
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“I loved working at SNL, and most of all I loved the people,” Yang wrote in a lengthy Instagram statement hours before the show. “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.”
The comedian added, “I’m grateful for every minute of my time there. 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.”
Yang, who joined SNL in 2017 as a writer one year before joining the cast, also offered his gratitude to Grande in his statement.
“Thank you to Ari for sending me off in the dreamiest way I could imagine,” Yang concluded. “The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready, but s***, I hope I am.”
To close out the show, Yang starred in a holiday travel-themed sketch with Grande and musical guest Cher.
“I can’t believe you’re retiring,” Grande’s character mused, to which Yang subsequently replied, “I just wanted to go out on top!”
The number ended with the trio hugging before Yang burst into tears.
Yang and Grande initially bonded while playing school friends in the Wicked film adaptations.
“I’ve learned so many things from Ariana Grande. I’ve learned about overcoming things,” Yang told Esquire earlier this month. “I lost a sense of myself while we were shooting Wicked because it was just the back-to-back work of doing SNL and then going to London for Wicked and then doing SNL again and going to London. It really unmoored me, and Ari very gently brought me back to shore.”
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Grande also had a blast making Wicked with Yang.
“I have a video of him with his pink cap over your hair ‘cause we weren’t ready to film yet with your little clips in,” Grande recalled during a November 2024 episode of Yang’s “La Culturistas” podcast. “He’s half in wardrobe, half in some cute Bowen thing, and he’s like, what does Madame Morrible say, ‘Alright, fine I’m gay, Shiz, but I don’t want that to be the most interesting thing about me.’ I’ve watched that 300 times.”
Saturday Night Live returns to NBC Saturday, January 14, at 11:30 p.m. ET with host Finn Wolfhard and musical guest ASAP Rocky.
