Following the departure of cast members Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch,E! Online reports that the show is letting go of three cast members: Horatio Sanz, Chris Parnell, and Finess Mitchell. For the last month, there had been speculation that budget cuts would force several cast members to be let go, a potential list including 11-year veteran Darrell Hammond and Kenan Thompson. Sanz, apparently, had always been at the top of that list, despite his claims last month that he had no idea his status on the show had changed.

Going back to rumors of budget cuts, NBC annouced that there would be no additions made to fill the five vacant spots in the cast. With the departure of Tina Fey, Seth Meyers will return as the sole head writer on SNL, and is a likely candidate to take over as co-anchor of Weekend Update, with Amy Poehler.