'Saturday Night Live' holds auditions for black female cast members

NEW YORK, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- New York sketch comedy TV series "Saturday Night Live" will add an African-American woman to the cast as soon as January, the Hollywood Reporter said.

The entertainment industry trade newspaper said "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels recently ordered two group auditions, which were the first in the show's history to focus exclusively on minority females.

THR said the move was in response to criticism about the lack of diversity in the mostly white current ensemble on the NBC show.