Here’s the Reported Reason Why Bill Hader Won’t Be in ‘SNL 50’

Bill Hader won’t be in Saturday Night Live’s anniversary special SNL 50 this Sunday, but don’t get mad at Lorne Michaels just because his former star found a hotter club.

Just days away from the SNL half-century celebration, there is a fitting amount of division and controversy among the comedy institution’s fanbase who so famously disagree about which era was the show’s best, which cast was the worst and whether or not SNL has ever actually been funny. Despite the fact that the lineup of A-list guests and illustrious alumni who are willing to give Michaels three hours of their Sunday would make the average awards show afterparty planner swoon, all the SNL fandom wants to talk about is the group of beloved SNL veterans who won’t make an appearance while NBC forces us watch Chevy Chase cling to what’s left of his legacy.

However, as famed Hollywood insider and Puck founder Matthew Belloni recently reported, SNL 50 won’t miss out on Hader’s top talent and classic characters for lack of trying. In his latest “What I’m Hearing” newsletter, Belloni claimed that Hader gave SNL “a polite decline” when asked to return to the show.

Apparently, Hader will only reprise his classic SNL roles when he’s selling minivans:

Along with Hader’s gracious absence, Belloni reported that the agent of original SNL cast member Dan Aykroyd told Belloni that his client “won’t be there.” To be honest, however, SNL Twitter wasn’t exactly heartbroken by the omission of Aykroyd from the official returning cast announcement earlier this week, given that his contemporary body of quality comedic work mostly consists of laughable lawsuits against any company that puts a consumer product in skull-shaped packaging.

Belloni also reported that SNL co-creator and former showrunner Dick Ebersol “was invited but won’t attend due to health issues,” but since the show survived the 1980s and continues to exist despite constant cast turnover, fans and performers will feel Ebersol’s presence in the fact that SNL even gets to put on a half-centennial soiree.

Now, naturally, Hader is under no obligation to return to the building where he had weekly panic attacks from 2005 to 2013, but he will be missed dearly by Millennial SNL fans who fell in love with his chameleonic character abilities — though, if SNL wants to fill the Hader-shaped hole in the special, they could always just rent an Alan for the weekend.