Leslie Jones Joins 'Saturday Night Live' Cast

"Saturday Night Live " has promoted writer and sometimes "Weekend Update" guest Leslie Jones to a cast member. NBC confirmed the news to HuffPost Entertainment after Deadline.com broke the story . Jones and the show tweeted their excitement:

Jones has been a staff writer on the show since early 2014 and was one of 12 finalists for a cast spot that ended up going to Sasheer Zamata last year . Since joining "SNL ," she's appeared in memorable "Weekend Update" segments, including a controversial bit on slavery last May . She'll start as a cast member this week, on Oct. 25 when Jim Carrey hosts. Jones has also appeared in "The League," "Workaholics" and "Top Five," which comes out in December.

"SNL" Season 40 began just a few weeks ago and added two new cast members, Pete Davidson and Michael Che , who was promoted from writer to "Weekend Update" anchor.