Country superstar Morgan Wallen performed two songs from a forthcoming album that is expected to be one of the year’s biggest blockbusters on “Saturday Night Live,” but it wasn’t the music that stirred up the most chatter after the episode ended. It was his abrupt walk-off during the usual group hugs at the close of the show, followed by a social media post that suggested he was in a hurry to get out of New York, both creating speculation about whether or not Wallen was sending signals that his “SNL” experience was not a happy one.
Sources in Wallen’s camp say there’s nothing to the conjecture that the singer was signaling tension, maintaining that he had a good time and no slight was intended with either his prominent exit or his Instagram post.
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During the traditional “SNL” close, Wallen did stick around long enough to salute the audience, and then to share a light hug with host Mikey Madison. But, bucking protocol, he then bolted from the stage rather than stick around for stage time with the cast, walking into the audience and straight toward (and past) the camera. It marked the first time veteran “SNL” watchers could remember a guest making an early departure from the stage, or certainly one quite that in-your-face.
Later, Wallen’s sole post to his social media after the show consisted of a photo of his private jet on the tarmac in New York with the caption: “Get me to God’s country.”
Even before the IG post, and more so after it, the flood of reactions on social media seemed to be split three ways: (a) this was all inadvertent, and Wallen clearly wasn’t thinking how his exit would be read; (b) it was a deliberate flip-off, and he was being rude to the show; or (c) it was deliberate and good for him for sticking it to a liberal cast that was probably rude to him first.
According to sources in his world, it was that first option — no slight was intended, and the buzz misreads the star just being off-the-cuff as usual.
When Wallen made a quick dart toward the camera to make his getaway, it was simply an “oops” moment that everyone on hand had a laugh about, according to those familiar with his camp’s perception of how it went down; that was the way he entered and exited the studio all week during rehearsal and camera blocking, so he wasn’t thinking about being on-camera when he strolled off stage.
As for his ambiguously NYC-dissing “Get me to God’s country” social post not expressing any pleasure over the performance or directly referring to “SNL” at all, this was just typical Wallen, say those in his world, since he rarely posts about accomplishments or accolades. (The star did not say anything on his socials last fall about his triumphant CMA Awards win for entertainer of the year, either, which he was not on hand to accept.)
Regardless of how it was intended or not intended, the buzz about whether he meant to give “SNL” a brushoff continued into Sunday morning. Some talked about the seeming distance between the cast and Wallen even before he left the stage, or posted screenshots of Ego Nwodim and Kenan Thompson seeming to share a bemused moment as Nwodim looked in the direction of where Wallen had made his way out.
A sampling of tweets:
“Wow, Morgan Wallen just walking off the stage during the @nbcsnl credits? In decades of watching SNL, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that. For so many of us, that is sacred ground.”
“All this hate to Morgan Wallen because he walked off stage before the end credits as if he hasn’t been getting bashed literally all week by all you insane liberals. He dosnt owe you anything and you all are low life haters who can’t let go of the past. Like grow tf up.
Alongside a screenshot of his IG “God’s country” post: “Morgan Wallen with a little more of the catty-ass petty loser shit he so proudly displayed running offstage down the center aisle & right past the camera at SNL curtain call… This & the tone-deaf private jet flaunt couldn’t be more lame & undercutting coming from a country star.”
“Morgan Wallen shows the SNL cast exactly how he feels. Love it!”
“Something SO pleasing about seeing morganwallen storm off stage during goodnights. Don’t let the door hit ya!!!!!!!!!!”
“If you go back and watch the clips of Mikey with Morgan and Chloe from midweek (the hi I’m Mikey Madison and I’m hosting SNL this week with Morgan Wallen clips) you’ll see he didn’t want to shoot those either, and probably only did SNL cause his manager and agent made him.”
“It’s ain’t rocket science: Morgan Wallen dipped because the entire cast (queen Mikey excluded) are a bunch of self-righteous, sanctimonious shitlibs who think they’re better than conservatives. I wouldn’t hang around longer than I had to either.”
“I wonder what blackmail Morgan Wallen has on Lorne Michaels to keep getting invited to perform, only to rudely ditch the cast and host during the curtain call at the end of the show.”
“The Big Mad & Miserable Lib Snowflakes are crying about this Epic FU, while hunting for this video on X, bc so few people even watch the boring, humorless trash that SNL has become.”
Although some musical guests have figured in sketches on recent “SNL” episodes, Wallen did not make any appearances on the show outside of singing “I’m the Problem” and “Just in Case.” There was an appearance by a musician in a pre-taped sketch, however — Joe Jonas.
Wallen’s history with “SNL” already had some controversy to it. In October 2020, he was booked for the show and then un-booked, after being seen on video flouting pandemic protocols in the days leading up to the show by kissing multiple woman at a party. Jack White replaced him at the last minute on his scheduled Oct. 10, 2020 episode, and Wallen apologized for the breach that caused his cancellation. But Michaels said at the time that Wallen would be invited back, and he indeed made his debut on Dec. 5 of that year, appearing in a sketch on that episode that made light of the earlier cancellation.
This weekend’s performance marked his first return to “SNL” since a major disruption in his career in early 2021 when he was captured on video using the N-word as a seeming term of endearment for a friend. He was barred by most major broadcast outlets and awards shows for a year or more after that stir, but Wallen has gone on to become and remain one of the most successful figures in recent contemporary music.
According to Billboard, Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” is the top album of the 21st century, to date. His most recent album, “One Thing at a Time,” is also among the top 10 albums so far this century, at No. 7. His forthcoming release, “I’m the Problem,” comes out May 16 and is expected to be one of 2025’s biggest albums.
