The 27-year-old announced that he was let go on Twitter, writing, “Fired From New York It’s Saturday Night!”
Brooks Wheelan’s run on Saturday Night Live has ended after one season. The 27-year-old stand-up comedian from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, broke the news Monday in an announcement to his 32,000 Twitter followers.
“Had a blast and loved every second of it,” Wheelan wrote. “I’m totally honored to be able to make this next joke… FIRED FROM NEW YORK IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT!” A source close to Saturday Night Live confirms to THR that the show declined to renew Wheelan’s contract. Other castmembers’ futures have not yet been determined. Additional decisions are expected to come in August. Wheelan was a last-minute addition to the Season 39 cast of the venerable NBC sketch comedy show, the sixth featured player added to the series during one of the most ambitious casting overhauls in its history.
The Los Angeles-based comedian had little experience doing character work or sketch comedy when executive producer Lorne Michaels chose him for the cast — a fact even Wheelan openly joked about during his final audition, according to sources in attendance. With Wheelan’s future at SNL decided, all eyes now turn to the other Season 39 freshmen: Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney, John Milhiser, Noel Wells, Mike O’Brien (who spent several seasons in the writers room) and Sasheer Zamata (who was added midseason after a public outcry over the lack of racial diversity).
