Saturday Night Live recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. The event hosted at 30 Rockefeller Center featured an exciting guest list including Sabrina Carpenter, Kim Kardashian, and many other celebrities, along with many of the series’ original cast members. However, some big faces from SNL’s past couldn’t make it including Dan Aykroyd. So, who else from the main cast did not attend the special?
Here’s everything that’s currently known about the absence of Aykroyd and other cast members from the big event.
All cast members who missed SNL’s 50th Anniversary Special including Dan Aykroyd
Here is a list of all cast members who missed SNL’s 50th Anniversary Special including Dan Aykroyd:
- Dan Aykroyd
Two days before the big event, Aykroyd opened up about SNL’s 50th anniversary on X (formerly Twitter). He wrote, “Cracking a Head with pride at having been a co-founder of SNL along with everyone we were together with in those four years, five decades ago. This telecast is as historical as the next moon landing. Comedy stars of our age all gathered under the aegis of America’s greatest living impresario, my boss Lorne Michaels. People, it’s friggin’ Holy!!.”
The reason behind Aykroyd’s absence from the event has remained unclear, with many fans still speculating as to why. A source close to the comedian told LateNighter on Friday simply that he “could not come.”
- Bill Hader
Aside from Aykroyd, Bill Hader also missed the SNL 50. As per Puck News’s Matthew Belloni, Hader formerly rejected the invitation calling it “a polite decline.” However, he was seen as his character Devin in a Volkswagon commercial alongside Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen that aired during the show.
- Dick Ebersol
Ebersol is the NBC executive who helped Lorne Michaels create the show and served as its executive producer for five years. As per Belloni, the reason behind his absence from the event was reportedly his current health issues.
- Dana Carvey
Carvey was a notable absence during the event as he was part of the main cast from 1986 to 1993 and later made many guest appearances on the show. Similar to Aykroyd, the exact reason behind his absence from SNL’s 50th anniversary is not yet known.
- Colin Quinn
Quinn is known to SNL fans for hosting the Weekend Update segment from 1998 to 2000, and similar to both Carvey and Aykroyd, the reason behind his absence is still a mystery to fans.
Despite the absence of numerous cast members, SNL 50 proved to be a star-studded event. Aside from Kardashian and Carpenter, other celebrities who attended the event were SL alums Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Chevy Chase, Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon, and Maya Rudolph.
