Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah leaving 'SNL'

Lorne Michaels will be looking for fresh comedy blood to inject into the cast of Saturday Night Live, as Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah won't be returning to the sketch show next season, Mashable has confirmed.

Killam and Pharoah will be pursuing new opportunities after spending six seasons together on SNL.

Killam told Uproxx that it wasn't his decision to leave the show, and that the departure was news to him. "I don’t know the other side of it," Killam shared about the exit. "You sign for seven years, so I had one more year. I had sort of had it in my head I would make this upcoming year my last year, but then heard they weren’t going to pick up my contract. I was never given a reason why, really."

Killam recently wrote, produced and directed the action comedy Why We're Killing Gunther, in which he stars opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. Killam also co-wrote the indie comedy Brother Nature, starring himself and SNL cohort Bobby Moynihan. Since joining SNL, he has appeared in Paul Feig's The Heat and Oscar winner 12 Years a Slave.

Pharoah will soon be heard voicing a character in Illumination Entertainment's upcoming animated movie Sing. He earned fans on SNL with his spot-on impressions, including President Obama, Denzel Washington, Will Smith and Jay-Z.

[h/t TV Line]