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Sometimes, yer boy Hank here can get a bit overly serious and pedantic. With New Year's Day landing on Thursday this year, it would seem natural and appropriate to use that coincidence to look back at "the most important LGBTQ+ stories of 2025," or "community members we lost this past year," or something equally thoughtful. But ya know what, 2025 was such a goddamn dumpster fire, and 2026 doesn't look to be much better, so I decided "Fuck it. Let's laugh." Let's go with something frivolous and ultimately unimportant, choosing silly over solemn, mirth over meditative. So with the recent announcement of Bowen Yang's departure from Saturday Night Live, let's look back at some of his best and most compelling moments, according to The Hollywood Reporter and others.
Yang joined SNL in 2018 as a writer, became a featured player cast member the following year, and a main cast member two years later. His departure was not a surprise to SNL producers, and he left on glowing terms, and in the gayest way possible, on this year's Christmas episode featuring his Wicked costar Ariana Grande, with musical guest Cher. I mean, were glitter bombs and popper bottles distributed at the taping?!
His goodbye skit certainly brought the tears:
Weekend Update: The Iceberg That Sank the Titanic
In his second year as a featured player, the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic (April 1912) was impending. So Yang came onto Weekend Update as the iceberg that sank the great ship. In writing that is typical of Yang, known for making subversive commentary about pop culture while remaining hilariously funny, he turns the iceberg into a celebrity unwilling to take full responsibility for past misdeeds.
Bowen Yang Is Straight
Last season, a pre-American Eagle ad controversy Sydney Sweeney hosted. In a taped sketch, Sweeney learns that Yang is actually straight, and only plays gay "as a shortcut to laughs." Again, the sketch deftly plays with human sexuality and fame, flipping the script on the history of closeted actors playing it straight to better their career.
Curiously, this acts as a nice bookend to a sketch some 40 years prior with Terry Sweeney, the show's first openly gay cast member ('86-'87 season). In "Pinklisted," Sweeney, alongside guest host Madonna, plays an actor who is forced to play straight due to Hollywood's AIDS hysteria.
Bowen Addresses Pandemic-Era Anti-Asian Violence
Four years ago, we were in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and due to the administration's amplification of anti-Asian sentiment, hate crimes against Asians rose alarmingly. Yang, never one to pull comedic punches for a serious topic, was equally funny, poignant, and dead serious when he addressed the matter on another Weekend Update segment.
Bowen Portrays George Santos
Two years ago this month, disgraced GOP congressman George Santos was expelled from Congress for fraud. Yang had played Santos in previous sketches, but his cold-opening on December 2nd, 2023, as Santos addressing reporters after his expulsion highlighted a couple of his talents. His writing and acting are spot on, but more importantly, he is honest about gay men, the bad and the good. He's willing to show that gay dudes can be just as awful and shitty people as our straight counterparts, and in doing so, says we don't need to valorize every gay man who walks the earth just because they're gay. No excuses; you F'ed up, you go down.
Bowen as Disney's Jafar Responding to Ron DeSantis Homophobic Attacks
Speaking of bad gays, in season 48, Yang came on Weekend Update to portray Aladdin's villain Jafar responding to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's (mostly) homophobic attacks on Disney World in Orlando. He gets to say the quiet part out loud, that Disney villains are often super gay (Scar, anyone?) but still fun. And maybe he's the villain you want on your side? He calls out DeSantis for all his overtly queeny behavior as only a fellow queen can do, reading DeSantis for filth. It's vicious and hilarious!
Bowen Funnels Chappell Roan's Fame Surge Through Moo Deng
No, not all his best sketches are from Weekend Update appearances, but they do seem to allow him to speak more fully and personally with weird humor and a deeper intent. Here, in a humorous take on the pitfalls of sudden fame, Bowen portrayed Moo Deng in September 2024. Moo Deng is a baby pygmy hippo born in July 2024 in Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Si Racha, Chonburi, Thailand. Moo Deng rose to international stardom when photos and videos of her spread on social media. Visitor numbers doubled to see her live, and the poor behavior of some, such as spraying water from bottles or food at her to wake her up and get her active, caused increased security measures to be enacted. And that is where Chappell Roan comes in. Because Yang was actually making a comment, and maybe satirising a bit, Roan's statements of complaint regarding the treatment of her by the public and her own rocket to stardom.
What's your favorite Bowen Yang moment?
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