When SNL 50was live from New York, Bill Haderwasn’t there… but why?
After the Barry star—who originated memorable characters like Stefon and Devin in “The Californians” while a cast member from 2005 to 2013—was notably absent from the Feb. 16 anniversary special, his team shed some light on the reason for his no-show.
As his rep told Variety Feb. 18, Hader was not able to attend the show because of a “longstanding scheduling conflict.”
Hader—who has been working on The Cat in the Hat and Empress of Serenity, according to IMDb—did not share further details.
Still, he didn’t totally abstain from the SNL 50 celebrations, reprising his “Californians” character Devin in a Volkswagen commercial with Kristen Wiigand Fred Armisen.
And while Hader—who is dating Ali Wong following his divorce from Maggie Carey—is open to revisiting his beloved roles from time to time, he’s previously been candid about the anxiety attacks and migraines he experienced while on the cast.
“When I was on SNL, I was a bit of a basket case,” he told Varietyin 2019. “It could not have been easy on my wife at the time. I was so consumed with work and anxiety. Sometimes I felt like people thought, ‘Oh, he’s just wanting attention or something.’ It was like, ‘No, man, I’m legit. I’m freaking out right now.’”
Even after leaving the show, the stressful memories kept Hader—who shares daughters Hannah, 15, Harper, 12, and Hayley, 10, with Carey—from revisiting his past sketches.
“I never saw any of the stuff I did,” he continued. “I think a nanny showed my kids Stefon, or ‘The Californians’ or something. They came in and were like, ‘Dad, look at this.’ I was like, ‘Oh, yeah. There I am.’”
But while Hader was certainly missed, he wasn’t the only former cast member absent from SNL’s birthday celebration. Inaugural cast member Dan Aykroyd was also missing from the night’s crowd, though he gave a shout out two days prior.
“Cracking a Head with pride at having been a co-founder of SNL along with everyone we were together with in those four years, five decades ago,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Feb. 14. “This telecast is as historical as the next moon landing. Comedy stars of our age all gathered under the aegis of America’s greatest living impresario, my boss Lorne Michaels. People it’s friggin’ Holy!!”
Though Hader and Aykroyd weren’t present, read on to see all the stars that attended SNL 50: The Anniversary Special.
(E! and Saturday Night Live are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds
Kim Kardashian
Miley Cyrus
Pete Davidson
Dakota Johnson
Lady Gaga and Michael Polansky
Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost
Jackie Sandler and Adam Sandler
Kenan Thompson
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson
Sabrina Carpenter
Meryl Streep
Eddie Murphy
Emma Stone and Dave McCary
Alexander Edwards and Cher
Bad Bunny
Amy Poehler
Tina Fey
Maya Rudolph
Miles Teller and Keleigh Sperry Teller
Drew Barrymore
Zahra Rock and Chris Rock
Will Ferrell
Chris Fischer and Amy Schumer
Chris Pine
Kate McKinnon
Sandra Oh
Lauren Miller and Seth Rogen
Nick Jonas
Aidy Bryant
