Saturday Night Live' Creator Says Show Will Add Black Female Cast Member

After mounting criticism over the lack of diversity in the "Saturday Night Live" cast, the show's creator said on Thursday that the late night comedy show would add a black female cast member to the lineup in January.

Lorne Michaels, "SNL" creator and executive producer, said he was committed to soon hiring the show's first black female cast member since 2007, according to the New York Times.

On Monday, auditions were held where seven to eight candidates competed for the slot, the Times added.

“All told we’ve seen about 25 people,” Michaels said. “A lot of the people we saw are really good. Hopefully we’ll come out of the process well.”

in November, "SNL" poked fun at their cast's lack of diversity through the employment of a skit featuring actress Kerry Washington. (Image source: Screen grab via NBC)

In November, "SNL" responded to similar criticism by employing a skit featuring actress Kerry Washington to poke fun at the situation.

“The producers at ‘Saturday Night Live’ would like to apologize to Kerry Washington for the number of black women she will be asked to play tonight,” scrolling words joked on the screen at the time.

The show also hinted then that they would be adding a black female cast member.

“As for the latter reason, we agree that this is not an ideal situation and look forward to rectifying it in the near future,” scrolling words added on the screen during the November episode.

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