‘Saturday Night Live’ Adds Two Black Female Staff Writers

The talent search, which led to Saturday Night Live appointing Sasheer Zamata yesterday as the first black female cast member in five years, also has resulted in two staff writer hires on the veteran NBC late-night show. Leslie Jones, who was one of the 12 finalists invited to audition on the SNL stage and was in serious contention for the cast spot, is joining the show as a writer, joined by LaKendra Tookes. They are additions to the staff; none of the existing scribes are leaving.

Related: Here Are The Black Female Performers Testing For ‘SNL’