Dana Carvey was notably absent from the "Saturday Night Live" 50th anniversary Sunday, sparking speculation over why the 69-year-old comedian missed the event.
Carvey was a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" from 1986 to 1993, and made recent appearances to portray former President Joe Biden, according to the New York Post. On Tuesday it was revealed that he could not attend the special due to the flu, leaving him unable to fly.
Carvey made his return to "Saturday Night Live" for the Season 50 premiere in September, where he impersonated Biden, 82, in a sketch alongside Maya Rudolph as former Vice President Kamala Harris. The "Saturday Night Live" veteran continued to appear on the NBC variety show both before and after the 2024 presidential election.
Also absent from the 50th anniversary special were fellow alums Bill Hader, who was on the show from 2006 to 2013, and Dan Aykroyd.
In a statement, Hader's rep said the actor didn't go because he had a "long-standing scheduling conflict."
Aykroyd, one of the show's original cast members, meanwhile had to miss the event because of "prior commitments," his rep confirmed. Two days prior to the special, Aykroyd posted about it on social media.
"Cracking a Head with pride at having been a co-founder of SNL along with everyone we were together with in those four years, five decades ago," he wrote on X. "This telecast is as historical as the next moon landing. Comedy stars of our age all gathered under the aegis of America's greatest living impresario, my boss Lorne Michaels. People it's friggin' Holy!!"
Colin Quinn and Dennis Miller, both former "Weekend Update" anchors, were also not present at the "Saturday Night Live" special. Quinn was performing a stand-up show in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the same night. Bill Murray paid tribute to Quinn in a skit celebrating the best Weekend Update hosts. Other notable "Saturday Night Live" alumni missing from the special included Joan Cusack, Robert Downey Jr., Mary Gross, and Chris Redd.