Leslie Jones says she doesn't miss Saturday Night Live 'at all': 'I wasn’t very free there'
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Don't expect Leslie Jones to be popping back up on Saturday Night Live anytime soon.
In an interview with ET, the comedian opened up about her decision to exit the venerated sketch show more than one year after her departure. “I don’t miss it. At all,” Jones said, adding that she misses former costar Kenan Thompson but not the show itself. "That job was hard, man. That job was like two jobs, and very restrictive too. I wasn’t very free there."
Jones first appeared on SNL in spring 2014 on a controversial Weekend Update segment, and became a featured player that fall, later earning two Emmy nominations for her work on the series. She announced her departure in August 2019, opting to focus on other opportunities; she has since fronted a Netflix comedy special and currently hosts ABC's reboot of Supermarket Sweep, premiering Sunday.
"[When I was on SNL,] people would always be like, 'Leslie, why is you messin’ up?'" Jones recently told EW. "I was like, 'I gotta read out loud and I can’t see the [cue cards]!'" Comparing that experience to her work on Supermarket Sweep, she added, "Here, I gotta have a [rapport] with the contestants and I still got to read all this text. So, yeah, it was difficult. But because of stand-up, I was able to make it… through Leslie Jones’ eyes."
Jones will also appear alongside her fellow SNL alum Eddie Murphy in the upcoming sequel Coming 2 America. SNL's 46th season is currently airing on NBC.
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