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Saturday Night Live: Leslie Jones 'leaving SNL after five seasons'

Comedy series is returning on 28 September

Clémence Michallon
New York
Tuesday 27 August 2019 17:32 EDT
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Leslie Jones gives impassioned comedic speech about abortion laws on SNL

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Leslie Jones is reportedly leaving Saturday Night Live after five seasons on the comedy series.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the comedian decided to exit the show to focus on other projects.

Jones began appearing on Saturday Night Live in 2014, during the show's 40th season, after previously joining its writing staff.

She was a "featured player" first (meaning she had smaller parts), before escalating to the rank of "repertory player", or full cast member, in 2016 for the 42nd season.

Jones was nominated for the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy in 2017 and 2018 for her work on SNL.

She's currently up for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for co-writing a song about the Upper East Side for a skit on the show. The 2019 Emmys will take place on 22 September.

Jones has a Netflix special in the works and has been cast in Coming 2 America (a sequel to the 1988 Coming to America ), coming in 2020.

Saturday Night Live is scheduled to return on 28 September with its 45th season premiere.

Woody Harrelson will host and Billie Eilish will appear as the episode's musical guest.

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Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge will take over hosting duties the following week, with Taylor Swift on the musical side.

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