After months of increasing pressure to add an African-American, female comedian to their cast, producers from Saturday Night Live announced today that funny lady Sasheer Zamata will make her debut… On January 18!
Deadline broke the casting news today, saying producers settled on Sasheer after she attended a Dec. 16 callback with 11 other potential stars.
Just a few years out of the University of Virginia, Sasheer has clearly made an impression on the entertainment industry through her work with the Upright Citizens Brigade. To the public, however, she is relatively unknown: The premiere episode of her web series, Pursuit of Sexiness, has been viewed by a small (albeit respectable) audience of 26,000.
In terms of her personal life, TMZ notes Sasheer was involved in a serious car accident a while back and had to relearn basic functions.
Sasheer is the first woman of color on the cast since Maya Rudolph left in 2007.
