Fred Armisen's time on Saturday Night Live has come to an end.
After an 11-year run, the comedian will not be returning to NBC's long-running late-night sketch series, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
The funnyman's future with SNL was left in limbo following the May 18 season finale in which the final sketch featured Bill Hader, Armisen, Jason Sudeikis and Taran Killam playing a British rock band saying their goodbyes on the final night of a tour. Armisen's Portlandia co-star Carrie Brownstein, was among the musicians who joined the group on stage.
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NBC declined comment on Armisen's departure, but the actor confirmed his exit in an interview with Splitsider. "I think it's clear. I didn't do any kind of official announcement, but I really felt like it was obvious," he told the site. "An ending that was a love letter to all the music I grew up with, and also to my friends and to SNL and to Lorne and to the cast. There was a lot of emotion attached to it, but it was a very positive emotion."
Armisen, who co-stars on IFC's critical darling sketch series Portlandia, has done impressions for the Lorne Michaels series including Barack Obama and Steve Jobs in addition to contributing numerous sketches for the series. (IFC in June renewed Portlandia for two additional seasons.)
Hader confirmed in May confirmed he would not return to SNL when it returns in the fall. Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers will take over for Jimmy Fallon as the host of NBC's Late Night and exit SNL in early 2014, likely returning to SNL before the Jay Leno-Fallon transition begins.
Armisen joins Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg out the door at SNL. Since leaving in 2012, Wiig has had a prolific big-screen career, while Samberg is attached to star in Fox's upcoming comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
The future of cast member Jason Sudekis, meanwhile, remains unclear.
E-mail: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
