Martin Herlihy Departs SNL After Five Years as Please Don’t Destroy Trio Dissolves
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Martin Herlihy is leaving Saturday Night Live after five seasons as a writer and performer, bringing an end to the SNL era of the Please Don't Destroy comedy trio. Herlihy joined the NBC show in 2021 alongside Ben Marshall and John Higgins, and the group became known for their pre-taped sketches, but their joint run effectively ended a year ago when Marshall was promoted to featured cast member and Higgins left to pursue acting. Herlihy had stayed on as a writer through the recently concluded 51st season, occasionally appearing in sketches, before now departing fully.
Marshall is set to continue as a featured player in Season 52, while Higgins has picked up acting roles including in the second seasons of Scrubs and Stick. Notably, Herlihy's father, Tim Herlihy, spent a similarly lengthy stint as an SNL writer in the 1990s before leaving to write films with Adam Sandler. Chloe Fineman remains the only confirmed cast departure ahead of Season 51's close, and SNL is expected to finalise its cast for Season 52 in the coming week before the show's 26 September premiere.
- Martin Herlihy exits SNL after five years, ending Please Don't Destroy's run
- Trio-mates Ben Marshall and John Higgins had already departed the sketch roles
- SNL's Season 52 cast to be finalised before 26 September premiere
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Martin Herlihy, Ben Marshall and John Higgins made up Please Don't Destroy, a comedy trio best known for the pre-taped sketches they made together on Saturday Night Live, the long-running NBC sketch show. The three joined SNL as writers and performers in 2021, and their videos became a signature part of the show's digital output over the following years.
The group's time working together on SNL had already been winding down. About a year ago, Marshall was promoted to a featured cast member and Higgins left to focus on acting, effectively splitting up the trio even though Herlihy stayed on as a writer. His full departure now closes out that chapter, and comes as SNL prepares its line-up for its next season, which begins on 26 September.
Full account
Martin Herlihy is leaving Saturday Night Live after five seasons on the show, bringing to a close the on-air tenure of Please Don't Destroy, the sketch trio he formed with Ben Marshall and John Higgins. Herlihy worked mainly as a writer at SNL, stepping in front of the camera only occasionally, and is the son of Tim Herlihy, himself a former SNL writer who went on to a long screenwriting partnership with Adam Sandler. News of the departure was reported by The Hollywood Reporter, citing a person familiar with the matter, and separately by Deadline, which credited the trade outlet LateNighter with first breaking the story.
Please Don't Destroy formed in 2017 while its members were students at New York University, and joined SNL in 2021, effectively inheriting the digital-short slot vacated by The Lonely Island's Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer. Over four seasons the group built a following with pre-taped sketches featuring high-profile guests, including "Roast" with Dakota Johnson, "Mean Cute" with Charli xcx and "Three Sad Virgins" with Taylor Swift, and parlayed that popularity into a 2023 film, Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain, as well as a live stage tour last year.
The trio's collective run making sketches for the show ended roughly a year before Herlihy's own exit, when Marshall was promoted to SNL's featured cast and Higgins departed to pursue acting full-time. Herlihy had chosen at that point to remain on staff as a writer for the show's 51st season. Higgins has since picked up screen roles, including reported recurring parts in the second seasons of ABC's Scrubs revival and Apple TV's Stick, while Marshall, often singled out as the breakout of the group, is expected to continue as a featured player into the new season. Herlihy himself has been building an acting résumé beyond Please Don't Destroy's self-referential shorts, with parts opposite Glen Powell in the forthcoming Running Man remake, roles in Roommates and The Breadwinner, and an appearance in Happy Gilmore 2 alongside Sandler, his father's longtime collaborator. Please Don't Destroy is expected to carry on as an act outside the show.
Herlihy's exit adds to a summer of turnover at SNL, following the departure of cast member Chloe Fineman in July, so far the only confirmed cast exit heading into the new season. Season 52 is set to premiere on 26 September, with the host and musical guest still to be confirmed and the show expected to finalise its line-up in the days beforehand.
Where outlets differ
The Hollywood Reporter frames Herlihy's departure explicitly as following Higgins out the door 'a year and a week' later and uses more pointed language (calling the pair 'nepo-comics'), while Deadline's account is more measured and procedural.
The two outlets attribute the scoop differently: THR cites its own unnamed source, whereas Deadline credits LateNighter with first reporting the news.
Deadline includes specific detail on John Higgins's upcoming acting work (recurring roles on Scrubs and Stick season twos) that THR does not mention.
THR gives considerably more background on Please Don't Destroy's history, sketches and film, and on Herlihy's acting credits, while Deadline focuses more narrowly on the SNL staffing timeline and the show's own season-52 preparations.
THR notes the group toured a live stage show last year as evidence the trio continues independently; Deadline does not address the group's future activity beyond the show.
Coverage
- The Hollywood Reporter — Martin Herlihy of Please Don’t Destroy Exits ‘SNL’
- Deadline — Martin Herlihy Leaving ‘Saturday Night Live’ After 5 Years