Charli XCX Cancels 'Saturday Night Live' Performance Due To COVID Limitations

Fans of Charli XCX were looking forward to her performance on “Saturday Night Live.”

However, this week’s musical guest had to cancel her appearance due to COVID-19 concerns. Earlier today, The Blast reported that “SNL” was considering canceling its final episode of the calendar year due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19 cases.

Four actors have tested positive for COVID and “three others” have said that they were “fearful” to return to NBC Studios to film tonight’s episode, given the uptick in COVID-19 cases. The state of New York set a new pandemic record, recording over 24,000 new COVID-19 infections in a 24-hour period.

“Saturday Night Live” issued a statement on Twitter saying that there will be no live audiences “out of an abundance of caution.”

“Due to the recent spike in the Omicron variant and out of an abundance of caution, there will be no live audience for tonight’s taping of ‘Saturday Night Live’ and the show will have limited cast and crew,” the tweet began.

“The show continues to follow all government safety guidelines in addition to a rigorous testing protocol,” they continued. “If you have won tickets to this show, you will be receiving more information soon. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

Charli issued a lengthy statement to her Twitter account announcing that she had to drop out of the show due to difficulties performing with a limited cast and crew.

“hi everyone,” she wrote. “due to the limited crew at tonight’s taping of snl my musical performances will no longer be able to go ahead.”

“I am devastated and heartbroken,” she continued. “Myself, Caroline, Christine, and all of our crews and teams have worked so hard all week alongside the snl team to bring the most amazing musical performance to life. It can’t happen this time but I’ll be back!”

Although she did not say when her performance would be rescheduled, she is likely to return as a musical guest sometime in 2022, as her schedule allows.

She also squashed rumors that she had tested positive for the virus, stating, “I am currently safe and healthy but of course very sad. Please look after yourself out there and make sure you get vaccinated if you haven’t already. Lots of love, Charli.”

Although some fans were understanding, other fans didn’t understand why Charli XCX stepped down from the performance.

“So many other artists have gone small for SNL,” one user commented. “Why didn’t you? Acoustic sets take nothing.”

“We’re so sorry so heartbroken….” Another fan wrote. “I was crushed when hearing the news after we camped out all night and got standby cards but was still so excited to see your performance televised. We were going to cheer so hard for you. Please please come back.”

“Cancel the whole show bc that wassss gonna be the show tn,” another wrote.

“Devastated for all of us,” another shared.

Although some fans are asking for the show to be postponed, it seems that the show will go on as scheduled. PaulRudd is still expected to appear as host; however, it was revealed earlier today that Tina Fey will sub in for Colin Jost due to the COVID-19 outbreak.