The drought of a Black woman as a season regular on Saturday Night Live is over. The long-running, late-night series has announced two new members for the cast of season 52: Saidah Belo-Osagie, a comedian and self-proclaimed jester, along with Grace Reiter.
Belo-Osagie will bring a distinct New York vibe to Saturday Night Live. A native baby of the Big Apple, she was born in Queens, New York, and raised in Elmont, New York. According to Deadline, she created the event series Afrobeats Futura and solo show Saidah Gets Closure. She wrote and directed the short film Tinge and hosted the variety show UNSCRIPTED,
With the departure of Ego Nwodim at the end of SNL‘s historic 50th season, the series spent its 51st without a regularly featured woman of color in the cast, something that was acutely felt when Golden Globes winner Teyana Taylor guest-appeared during the season.
A point of contingency for a show that thrives off of parodying real-life viral moments, SNL executives had been on the hunt to bring a talented Black woman back to its roster. Like her predecessor, Nwodim, Belo-Osagie has Nigerian roots.
The rising star joins a distiguished, but notably short list of Black female performers who have been regularly featured on the sketch comedy series.
Danitra Vance — the first Black woman ever hired as a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live — appeared during the 1985–1986 season. She was followed by Ellen Cleghorne, who became the show’s first multi‑season Black female cast member from 1991–1995. Maya Rudolph joined in 2000 and remained through 2007, becoming one of the show’s most recognizable performers.
After a long gap, Sasheer Zamata entered the cast from 2014–2017, alongside Leslie Jones, who served from 2014–2019 after initially joining as a writer. Nwodim continued that lineage from 2018–2025, and Punkie Johnson joined in 2020 and remains part of the ensemble. Earlier in the show’s history, Yvonne Hudson appeared as a featured player during the 1980–1981 season, making her one of the earliest Black women to appear regularly on the show
Saturday Night Live, Season 52 will premiere on Saturday, September 26, hosted by New York Knicks guard and NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson.