Saturday Night Live cast members usually don’t discuss their salaries — but what rare comments have been made about the paychecks?
Since its inception in 1975, Saturday Night Live has become a fixture in late-night programming. In addition to each episode featuring a celebrity host and a musical guest, the NBC sketch show has helped launch the careers of many cast members such as Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd, Tina Fey, Adam Sandler, Pete Davidson and Kate McKinnon.
Celebrity guests have usually been more forthcoming about how much they make for hosting an episode. According to The Sun, Justin Timberlake told Entertainment Tonight in 2021 that he made $5,000 for his episode.
“This was my third time to host and obviously I’ve done some appearances here and there when I’m in town. I really do adore the cast and the writers and everyone there,” he shared at the time. “It’s a great opportunity for an entertainer like myself to — it’s the best minimum. It’s the best five grand you can make on television. It’s awesome.”
Alec Baldwin, meanwhile, told The New York Times that he got paid $1,400 just for his Donald Trump appearances. While most SNL cast members — aside from Davidson — haven’t shared a specific number, they have hinted at a wide array of numbers.
In December 2024, Kenan Thompson defended how newcomers have to “pay your dues a little bit.” Keep scrolling for everything the Saturday Night Live cast members have said about their salaries:
Colin Jost
In a March 2025 sketch, Jost poked fun at himself for making less money than his wife, Scarlett Johansson.
“Can you imagine, Colin, a man whose wife makes more money than he?” Mikey Day’s Lord Gaga character asked. “Can you imagine? Oh, the shame he would feel!”
Jost, who originally joined as a staff writer in 2005 before becoming a coanchor of Weekend Update, joked in response, “Imagine, Colin, if I were sitting here on television behind this desk, staring at that camera, the world staring back at me knowing that my wife’s income dwarfs my own! I would die.”
Pete Davidson
In a December 2024 video for SNL’s 50th anniversary, Davidson told New York magazine what he spent his first SNL paycheck on.
“My biggest indulgence after my first SNL paycheck? Do you guys know what they pay us? It’s, like, three grand an episode,” Davidson, who was on the show from 2014 to 2022, quipped. “I think I got dinner.”
Jason Sudeikis
Sudeikis, who became a main cast member in 2006 after being a writer and later leaving in 2023, echoed Davidson’s comments. He noted that SNL cast and crew members “don’t make enough money to make big purchases” and recalled spending his wages on rent.
“I think New York rent was probably the biggest purchase I made after writing my first year on SNL,” he added.
Seth Meyers
According to Meyers’ interview with New York magazine, he purchased a “really big couch” and a “really big TV” from the funds he received. (Meyers was a cast member and writer on NBC’s sketch comedy series from 2001 to 2014.)
Bowen Yang
After being promoted to on-air cast status in 2019, Yang got himself Gucci shoes with his first SNL paycheck.
Kenan Thompson
“It’s pretty notorious that it’s more so about having the job than getting paid for the job,” Thompson told Variety in December 2024 before declining to provide any specific salary numbers.
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