“Saturday Night Live” has found a new cast member – Sasheer Zamata!
NBC announced the news via press release on Monday.
According to Deadline, Sasheer will make her debut on January 18, when Drake serves as host and musical guest.
The Upright Citizens Brigade trained performer is the first African-American female cast member since Maya Rudolph left the show five years ago.
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The Hollywood Reporter reported that the spot came down to two finalists, Amber Ruffin and Sasheer, after months of searching for a new addition to the cast.
“SNL” made headlines last year for its lack of female diversity after adding six new players, all white, except for Noel Wells, who is of Hispanic-Tunisian decent.
Prior to Sasheer’s casting , the NBC series had 16 cast members with Kenan Thompson and Jay Pharoah being the only African-Americans and Nasim Pedrad, who is Iranian-American.
— Jesse Spero
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