14 DAY TRIAL // The African-America actress Sasheer Zamata was announced as the newest addition to the Saturday Night Live cast. She will be making her debut on the entertainment show on the episode airing on January 18 that is featuring Drake as a host and musical guest.
The decision to cast Zamata was made after the show received criticism over the lack of black women on its permanent line-up. The last black woman to appear on Saturday Night Live was Maya Rudolph, who left the show in 2007.
Zamata is a 27-year-old actress who graduated in 2008 from the University of Virginia and had done previous work for the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy group in New York City.
She has now become the fifth black woman featured as regular member of the cast, since the show first aired in 1975.
The issue of a missing black female lead was not only brought to attention by outside fans, but also by the show's cast themselves. Jay Pharoah and Kenan Thompson made comments on screen about the issue and several jokes on the topic were also included on the Kerry Washington guest host episode.