It’s already Wednesday, and we’re still figuring out what may or may not have gone down with Morgan Wallen on Saturday Night Live.
For context, Morgan was the musical guest on the most recent episode of SNL, and despite presumably agreeing to be there, some of his actions on the night gave the impression that he kinda couldn’t wait to leave.
Firstly, he broke SNL tradition by abruptly walking off stage while the credits were still rolling — notably not acknowledging a single cast member behind him. And if that wasn’t weird enough, he followed up with a cryptic IG story of himself about to board a private plane with the caption, “Get me to God’s country.” (Which has since spawned a ton of amazing memes.)
Some people weren’t all that happy that Morgan was invited on the show in the first place, and, as you may have seen, his unusual behavior on Saturday prompted a whole lot of criticism, with some accusing him of being “nasty” and “ungrateful” toward the show.
On Sunday, inside sources told Variety that the country singer had a great time on the show and didn’t mean to offend anyone with his abrupt exit and subsequent “God’s country” post; however, it seems the damage was already done. Earlier this week, Kenan Thompson commented on the controversy and said Morgan’s “abrupt” exit was “a spike in the norm” and definitely left him a little weirded out.
“I don't know what goes through people's minds when they decide to do stuff like that," he told Entertainment Weekly, adding that he never met Morgan during rehearsals, but he “seems like a complicated individual.” “I don't know if he understood the assignment or not or if he was really feeling a certain kind of way. You see somebody before you get a chance to say hi or say good job or anything like that, they just dipping. I thought maybe he had to go to the potty or something.”
And now, after another SNL writer poked fun at Morgan’s cryptic IG story, we’ve got another report about his behind-the-scenes experience on the show.
If you’ve watched SNL before, you’ll know that while the celebrity hosts do the majority of the sketch work, it’s common for the musical guest to make a fun cameo at some point in the night — especially if the bit involves singing. In light of this, the writers apparently invited Morgan to join host Mikey Madison in a pre-recorded sketch called “Big Dumb Line,” in which Mikey, Bowen Yang, Chloe Fineman, Ego Nwodim, and Sarah Sherman sang about the trend of waiting in long lines to try viral foods and drinks in NYC.
However, Morgan apparently turned down the offer — leaving the writers to call up Joe Jonas, who stepped in at the last minute to sing a few lines toward the end of the skit wearing a chic all-white outfit. (You can find the full clip here if you've not watched it.)
Page Six first published the report, and People subsequently confirmed the story. Notably, the Page Six article included quotes from an anonymous source who alleged that Morgan was “not super friendly” on set and simply “did what he was asked” by performing his songs as a musical guest, but nothing more than that.
Of course, these quotes have not been confirmed, so they should be taken with a pinch of salt. Morgan has yet to comment directly on the SNL controversy. However, he has released some new merch inspired by his viral “God’s country” IG story, prompting mixed reactions.
Anyway, we’ve reached out to Morgan and Joe’s reps for some clarity on the alleged skit situation, and we’ll be sure to let you know if we hear anything.