‘Saturday Night Live’ creator Lorne Micheals talks Jay Pharoah – Taran Killam exit

Judging from the latest comments from “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels, one thing feels relatively clear: We’re probably not ever going to get a cohesive answer as to what precisely went down with Jay Pharoah and Taran Killam’s departures. We don’t get the sense that either one of them was planning to leave the show before the start of the off-season, but ultimately what happened this summer happened and we’re now in a spot where the show is without two veterans.

What Michaels did have to say, per The Hollywood Reporter, is effectively his version of “I wish them the best” as they move forward in their careers:

“I think that the lifeblood of the shows change. I love Taran, I love Jay, I think they’re both super talented. They’ve both been here six years. And if you don’t keep making changes you don’t change. You know? I can’t explain it any other way, because there’s no way of explaining it. Every now and then new voices come in — both in the writing staff and the cast.”

Michaels goes on to reference people like Jimmy Fallon and John Belushi as examples that sometimes “SNL” performers, despite having a great association with the show, don’t necessarily stay for as long as even Taran and Jay did. The series will go on, and this weekend they are going to have a shot hosted by Margot Robbie to properly start things off.

In this interview, Michaels also said that the decision to hire Alec Baldwin to play Donald Trump this season came from his former “30 Rock” co-star and notable “SNL” alum Tina Fey — though he did not mention why the role is being swapped out from Darrell Hammond and his memorable Trump impression.

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