Or maybe he knew exactly what he was doing…
Morgan Wallen was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live over the weekend, an appearance timed to promote his upcoming album, I’m The Problem, and corresponding tour.
But after the show, all anybody was talking about was how Morgan didn’t really seem to want to be there…
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
It looked like Morgan Wallen wait to get out of New York City, and his Instagram story that he posted shortly after his early exit seemingly confirmed that:
“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
While the internet blew up at Wallen seemingly snubbing the show, 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.”
No harm, no foul, right?
Well during the awkward exit, screenshots went viral of the cast reacting to Morgan peacing out, including one showing a side-eye from Kenan Thompson and Ego Nwodim:
Ego Nwodim and Kenan Thompson watching that Morgan Wallen walkoff at the end of the show. #SNL50 pic.twitter.com/M6W0DrCV7h
— Karen DaltonBeninato (@kbeninato) March 30, 2025
And during an appearance on Good Day New York today, Thompson was asked about the viral moment and his reaction:
“Aren’t we all in God’s country? I don’t know if he understood the assignment, is what that looks like. Ego’s the one giving the side-eye.”
But when asked about what really happened, Thompson played it coy and dismissed the story while suggesting that the attention should be on the performance from host Mikey Madison:
“I have no idea. I’ve been reading as much as you’ve been reading, so apparently he didn’t know to stay or something like that? Whatever, it doesn’t matter, it was a great show. Mikey did great, you know, and she’s having such an incredible run with her career right now, so celebrate that I guess.”
You get the feeling throughout the interview that Thompson wasn’t really a fan of Morgan’s exit, so maybe he felt that the singer was being disrespectful to the show or the cast. But as others pointed out, the cast appeared to separate themselves from Wallen as they said goodbye, so it doesn’t seem like there was a ton of camaraderie going on with the musical guest anyway.
Regardless of what happened, it’s just another example of people analyzing (and over-analyzing) every move that the controversial superstar makes. And honestly, if Morgan was trying to send a message to SNL, more power to him. Almost makes me like him even more.
@gooddaynewyork Kenan Thompson on Morgan Wallen walking off SNL stage: “I don’t know if he understood the assignment” #snl #morganwallen #gooddaynewyork
