They won’t destroy them.
Please Don’t Destroy, the comedy trio that includes John Higgins, Ben Marshall, and Martin Herlihy, will not break up in the wake of shakeups at “Saturday Night Live.”
Following “SNL’s” brutal bloodbath after Season 50 – which included several big exits – the longtime NBC sketch comedy show announced that Marshall would be joining the cast. Higgins, however, will be leaving.
Please Don’t Destroy have been producing digital shorts for “SNL” since 2022.
On Friday, the group acknowledged the shakeup during a performance at the Aladdin Theater in Portland, Oregon.
“How’s everybody’s week goin’?” Higgins asked the audience.
Herlihy teased, “Anything go on this week?”
“It’s PDD forever, baby,” Higgins announced.
Marshall added, “What he said.”
Ahead of Season 51 of the Lorne Michaels helmed sketch comedy show, “SNL” shed several cast members, including Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim and Devon Walker.
Among the exits, “SNL” alum Punkie Johnson commented, “wtf is happening… This is like the departed.”
On Sept. 2, “SNL” announced that it added five cast members, including Marshall and comedians Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska.
On Aug. 28, The Post confirmed that Heidi Gardner was also leaving the show. Gardner had been the longest-tenured current female cast member before news emerged that she wouldn’t return.
Gardner’s contract was not renewed, an insider exclusively told The Post, noting that it was “time for a new cast.”
Dana Carvey, who returned to “SNL” last season to play Joe Biden, shared some information about Gardner’s exit from the show on a recent episode of his “Fly on the Wall” podcast.
“From what I know as of this recording, that it was not her idea to leave,” Carvey, 70, claimed to co-host and “SNL” alum David Spade at the time.
“I could be wrong about that,” Carvey added, “but that’s what I read.”
Spade, 61, said he finds it “a little shocking” that “SNL” would fire Gardner.
“I think she’s got a likability,” Carvey noted. “She can play real, straight news woman, she can play big, brawn, funny, physical. So I was surprised by that.”
“SNL” Season 51 premieres Oct. 4 on NBC.
