Only one member of the sketch comedy group, which began producing digital content for the show in 2021, remains on “SNL.”

Please Don’t Destroy’s Martin Herlihy is leaving SNL after 5 seasons

Only one member of the sketch comedy group, which began producing digital content for the show in 2021, remains on “SNL.”

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

EW's editorial guidelines

September 9, 2026 11:31 a.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Martin Herlihy on ‘Saturday Night Live’. Credit:

Jenni Pietromonaco/NBC via Getty

- Martin Herlihy is departing *Saturday Night Live* after five seasons.

- His exit leaves just one member of the sketch comedy group Please Don’t Destroy in the *SNL* cast.

- Cast member Chloe Fineman previously announced her exit from the show ahead of season 52.

Another member of Please Don’t Destroy is moving on from *Saturday Night Live**. *

Martin Herlihy is exiting the late-night program after five seasons, according to *Variety*. The comedian served on the writing staff and also appeared in several pre-taped shorts during his tenure on the show.

Representatives for Herlihy and NBC did not immediately respond to **’s request for comment.

In 2021, Please Don’t Destroy — a comedy trio composed of Herlihy, Ben Marshall and John Higgins — began producing digital shorts for *SNL* after swiftly rising to fame for their online content during the COVID-19 pandemic. For four seasons, they appeared in pre-taped sketches and exclusive digital content, creating viral moments via team-ups with hosts and musical guests like Taylor Swift, Pete Davidson, Ana de Armas, and Dakota Johnson.

Ben Marshall, Martin Herlihy, and John Higgins during their ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch ‘Paul Mescal Is Daddy’.

Kait Dugan/NBC via Getty

Their comedic stylings were often compared to that of Jorma Taccone, Andy Samberg, and Akiva Schaffer‘s tenure doing the same as The Lonely Island. They even referenced this comparison during their 2024 “Roast“ short with Johnson, who dubbed them “The Lonelier Island.”

The trio went their separate ways from the show after the creative overhaul that followed *SNL*’s historic season 50. Marshall was promoted to *SNL* cast member, Herlihy remained on the writing staff, and Higgins left to pursue an acting career. In addition to his writing duties, Herlihy began appearing in pre-taped sketches billed as “A Film by Martin Herlihy” in season 51.

Please Don't Destroy reveal 'SNL' host who roasted them hardest: 'So brutal'

Get an exclusive first look at the 'Please Don't Destroy' movie

Following the *SNL* shake-up, the group assured fans that Please Don’t Destroy had not been dissolved and would continue to work together outside of the show. They are currently touring throughout the summer and fall with dates in New York, Virginia, and North Carolina.

“It’s PDD forever, baby,” Higgins told a crowd at the Aladdin Theater in Portland, Ore., last September.

Marshall backed him up with a heartfelt, “What he said.”

Martin Herlihy on ‘Saturday Night Live’.

Kait Dugan/NBC via Getty

Beyond *SNL*, Please Don’t Destroy wrote and starred in the wacky 2023 adventure film *Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain*, which costarred Conan O’Brien, Megan Stalter, and *SNL *stars Bowen Yang and Chloe Troast. Herlihy’s additional film credits include *The Breadwinners, Roommates, The Running Man and Happy Gilmore 2, *which was co-written by his dad and longtime Adam Sandler collaborator Tim Herlihy.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our ******EW Dispatch newsletter******.***

*SNL* will return for its 52nd season on Sept. 26. Earlier this summer, Chloe Fineman announced that she would not be returning to the show after seven years. No additional departures have been announced.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW SNL”