Where is Emil Wakim from? Parents and more about comedian fired from SNL

Lebanese-American comedian Emil Wakim has bid farewell to Saturday Night Live, according to his recent post on Instagram, after joining the show in 2024.

In an emotional post shared on his Instagram on August 27, 2025, Wakim announced that he won’t be returning for the 51st season. He wrote:

“I won’t be returning to snl next year. It was a gut punch of a call to get, but i’m so grateful for my time there.”

He added in his post that “it was the most terrifying, thrilling, and rewarding experience of my life.” In his concluding message, he added that he "will miss it dearly and all the brilliant people that work there that made it feel like a home” and thanked SNL creator Lorne Michaels for taking a chance on him.

Emil Wakim is originally from Chicago. He was born there on March 11, 1998, to a Lebanese Maronite father and an American mother.

Continue to read more about his family life.

All about Emil Wakim’s parents and family

Emil Wakim’s personal life has been brought to the limelight since he announced his departure from SNL in an August 27, 2025, Instagram post. He was one of the three members who joined the show’s Season 50 cast, which also included Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline. He was the first Lebanese-American cast member on the series.

Emil Wakim's father is a Maronite Christian Lebanese immigrant, and his mother is an American. He grew up as a Christian Arab, according to Arab America. In an interview with Deadline, he admitted that his father worries about his identity. He told the outlet:

“He’s like, ‘You know, you don’t have to say we’re Arab — we’re not Arab; we’re Christian Lebanese, it’s different. We’re European, we’re like the French.’ And I’m like, ‘Ask the French if they think we’re the French.'”

He further spoke about the challenges that comes with his identity as a Christian Arab. He said:

“No matter how liberal or conservative of an area I’m in, when people find out I was raised Christian, people just relax a little bit. Even in this room … They’re just like, ‘Oh, he’s cool.’ They’re just a little less afraid of you. Christian Arabs, we’re like Black dudes with anime backpacks.”

For his higher studies, Wakim moved to Bloomington, Indiana, and then to Brooklyn, New York, to pursue a comedy career.

Emil Wakim is a stand-up comedian. He has the experience of opening up for comedians such as Roy Wood Jr., Kyle Kinane, Nikki Glaser, Hasan Minhaj and Neal Brennan, according to Famous Birthdays.

He does not have any acting credits, but earlier he worked as a production assistant on Michael K. Williams' show Black Market on Vice TV. In an interview with Vulture, Wakim shared that appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as a stand-up comedian was one of the main highlights of his career. He told the outlet:

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“It was also huge for my parents, because it was finally a thing where all their friends and co-workers knew what it was, so it gave them a lot of closure that they could stop wincing when they tried to explain to their friends that a JFL audition was a big deal or whatever.”

He further told Vulture that he admires Ramy Youssef's career. He said that his financial goal is to be able to own a house with a driveway and a garage, while doing tours and comedy shows around the country.

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