The plot thickens…
Over the weekend, Morgan Wallen was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, an appearance timed to promote his upcoming album, I’m The Problem, as well as the corresponding tour. But the ultra-viral clip is from the end of the show, when it appeared that the country star was making a beeline to get the heck out of Studio 8H, when most guests stand around and chat with the cast until the credits are completely over.
During SNL’s signature end of show sendoff – where the cast, host and musical guest all say goodbye to the audience and hug and chat – the country music singer gave his pleasantries to host Mikey Madison (who won the 2025 Oscar for “Best Actress” for her performance in Anora) and then Wallen walked right off the stage.
Thank you, Mikey Madison and @MorganWallen! Goodnight! pic.twitter.com/FDlInhhHqb
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) March 30, 2025
Shortly after walking off set, it seemed like Morgan really was ready to leave and catch a private plane back to Tennessee, sharing a rare non-promotional Instagram story saying:
“Get Me Back To God’s Country.”
Morgan Wallen on Instagram Stories after his #SNL performances pic.twitter.com/S89xjcgIqs
— Saturday Night Network (@thesnlnetwork) March 30, 2025
TMZ spoke to a source close to Wallen about the incident, who said that Morgan meant nothing by his exit and he “entered and exited” the studio the same way he did in rehearsal and camera blocking all week:
“We’re told he entered and exited the studio the same way he did Saturday night during rehearsal and camera blocking all week leading up to the live show… so he routinely headed that way when he thought it was time to go.”
Honestly, I did think it was a bit odd for him to exit that way when no other guest really has and he’s been on the show before, so he knows how it works, but also can’t blame him for wanting to get out of there. Even in the show teasers, fans were quick to point out that Morgan looked like he wasn’t all that thrilled about being there, and he has a checkered past with the show to say the least, so maybe he didn’t want to do it… but it’s hard to pass up press like that, I guess? He definitely doesn’t need SNL, so he could’ve just said no, but I digress…
People have been trying to get to the bottom of this whole thing ever since Saturday night, and it has become a major national new story for some inexplicable reason. And one fan in particular might have the missing piece to this whole fiasco.
On TikTok, a fan shared screenshots of someone who was at the show, showing proof of the user’s wristbands from the show and photos on her Instagram stories from the evening. This fan, who was sitting in the live audience, claims that Morgan was “snubbed” by SNL’s longtime executive producer Lorne Michaels at some point near the end of the show, walking up to hug host Mikey Madison and turning his back to Morgan when he walked up, calling it “an obvious and purposeful move.”
The fan also pointed out what many others have noticed in that the cast was standing extremely far back from Mikey and Morgan, which is not typical, as they usually all stand together as a group. This is just one anecdote and I highly doubt it was just this one thing that upset Morgan, if he was upset, but might provide a little more color in terms of the full story:
“I was there last night! Lorne snubbed him. Mikey walked to the stage at the end and Lorne hugged her, then when Morgan came towards the stage Lorne turned his back and walked away. It was an obvious and purposeful move.
Also, the cast couldn’t be further back on the stage if they tried. Apparently it’s a thing they do when they don’t like the guest. I thought Morgan did an amazing job and hate there is such a riff about him being there. Great show though! Super funny skits!”
Another fan who claims they were there says Morgan walked out to the audience to meet his fans and a “sick child” who was there to see him:
“We were there. He came out to the audience to meet his fans and to meet a small child who is sick. And he also signed a poster and took pictures with everyone. I’m not a fan of his music but he treated…”
It cuts off there, but at least two audience members say Morgan was perfectly kind during his appearance:
@justdrawn.thatway Yall know I don’t like drama, but this needed to be said. #morganwallen #snl #saturdaynightlive ♬ original sound – ✨ In our Morgan Wallen Era ✨
Morgan is obviously polarizing figure, so people will try to make something out of everything he does, which is why he tends to stay away from gigs like this and big media jobs that always seem to lead to some sort of controversy, even something as dumb as this.
Lorne Michaels is a legendary name in the entertainment industry, and obviously has final say over everyone who appears on his show, so it would seem strange to invite a star as big as Wallen and then act like that towards him after he performed on the show. It feels like stating the obvious to say that SNL needs Morgan Wallen more than he needs SNL, but maybe there was more that happened throughout the week to cause some sort of tension between these two?
It’s been rocky between them from the beginning, and regardless of what really went down, I think it’s safe to say Wallen’s SNL days are over, and he’s probably thrilled about it…
You can watch his first SNL sketch here, which was actually pretty funny:
And his performances of “Just In Case” and “I’m the Problem” Saturday night:
“Just In Case”
“I’m the Problem”
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