'SNL' producer Lindsay Shookus leaves show after 20 years: 'Forever grateful'
The six-time Emmy Award winner, who previously dated Ben Affleck after meeting on the show, departed after declining an offer to take on another role
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lindsay Shookus has left her longtime role as a producer on NBC's "Saturday Night Live."
On Friday, the 42-year-old six-time Emmy Award winner took to Instagram to announce her exit from the show.
"After 20 seasons at Saturday Night Live (and 415 live shows - i counted!), I have decided to trade in the wild late night life and move on from the show," she wrote in a lengthy caption of a photo of herself on set.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shookus continued, "When I started in 2002, I was a baby from Buffalo, NY who didn’t know anything about the business, except that I so badly wanted to be somehow part of it. I found my place at SNL and I’ve spent the past two decades developing the most incredible friendships and memories alongside some truly brilliant and talented people."
The New York native added that she had met her ex-husband and former "SNL" producer Kevin Miller, with whom she shares a daughter, Maddie, through her work on the show.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"What could be a greater gift from my time at the show than my sweet, funny girl who makes every day brighter," Shookus wrote.
Lindsay Shookus has left her longtime role as a producer on NBC's "Saturday Night Live." (David Livingston/Getty Images)
Shookus said she was excited about her next step and planned to spend more time with Maddie. She went on to say that she would continue her work with the SNL Diversity Scholarship, which she created in 2020, and her Women Work F#cking Hard organization.
The TV veteran also expressed her gratitude to "SNL" creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels as well as her colleagues.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I will be forever grateful to Lorne for this once in a lifetime opportunity…thank you for your support, encouragement and freedom to bring my voice to this legendary stage," she said, adding: "Thank you to all the people that pushed, supported, taught, listened, valued and respected me throughout my crazy ride at the show."
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Shookus concluded by saying that she doesn’t know "exactly know what else the future holds for me" but she knows she is "headed someplace good."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Page Six on Friday reported that Shookus declined an offer to take another position on the NBC sketch comedy show, which is in the process of a revamp in preparation for its upcoming 48th season.
"Lindsay has been at the show for 20 years, she’s been a producer since 2012. They’re shaking things up," a source told the outlet. The insider added, "She was offered another job on the show, but she decided to move on."
After landing a role as a television executive assistant in 2002, Shookus rose through the ranks and became a producer in 2012. She also booked hosts and musical guests as well as recruited new talent as the head of the talent department at "SNL."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lindsay Shookus previously dated Ben Affleck, 50. The pair first met in 2015 when the "Argo" star hosted "SNL" for the fifth time. The exes are pictured here in 2017. (Robert Kamau/GC Images)
Shookus previously dated Ben Affleck, 50. The pair first met in 2015 when the "Argo" star hosted "SNL" for the fifth time. Affleck had separated from his wife of 10 years, Jennifer Garner, 50, the year prior and their divorce was finalized in 2018.
After making their romance public in 2017, Shookus and Affleck split in 2018, shortly before the actor entered rehab. The pair reunited in early 2019 but went their separate ways in April of that year.
"She has a kid and an ex-husband and a job in New York and Ben has his family and a job in L.A. and while they love and respect each other they just realized it wasn’t going to work," a source told People magazine. "They really gave it another solid try."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The insider added, "They will always have love for each other."
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez (seen in 2021) got engaged in April and had a surprise wedding in July. They are set to celebrate their nuptials with a three-day extravaganza. (Amy Sussman)
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In 2021, Affleck rekindled his romance with his former fiancée Jennifer Lopez, 53. The two had ended their engagement in 2004 after two years together.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After tying the knot in a surprise Las Vegas wedding last month, the pair are set to walk down the aisle again this weekend during a lavish three-day bash at Affleck's sprawling estate in Georgia.