Country music star Morgan Wallen, 31, returned to Saturday Night Live as the musical guest on March 29, performing alongside host Mikey Madison, who recently won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Anora. Wallen took the stage to deliver two songs from his upcoming album I’m the Problem — the title track and the emotional ballad “Just in Case.”
According to SNL tradition, Wallen joined the cast at the end of the show for the closing goodnights. However, the moment became awkward when he was photographed whispering something in Madison’s ear, hugging her briefly, and then sudden exiting the stage at Studio 8H — bypassing the traditional group goodbye. Soon thereafter, he uploaded a picture of a private plane on his Instagram Stories, writing, “Get me to God’s country,” with the aircraft on the runway.
The sudden exit generated a wave of comments online. Some of the watchers criticized Wallen for being disrespectful, labeling the action “rude” and observing that his actions undermined the importance of the SNL stage. One X (formerly Twitter) user posted, “In decades of watching SNL, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that. For so many of us, that is sacred ground. What an a——.” Another person commented, “Couldn’t be more lame & undercutting coming from a country star.”
Meanwhile, others leaped to Wallen’s defense, positing that he was already uneasy about the gig throughout. Fans cited his demeanor while appearing in promotional week clips alongside Madison and fellow cast member Chloe Fineman as indifferent, surmising that he only played SNL under orders from his handlers. Even an X user applauded the walk-out, calling it “SO pleasing.”
This wasn’t Wallen’s initial visit to Saturday Night Live. He had already performed in December of 2020, playing songs from his Dangerous: The Double Album, which would go on to top the Billboard 200 for 10 weeks. That visit came on the heels of a last-minute cancellation earlier in the fall when Wallen had broken the show’s strict COVID-19 guidelines. In his rescheduled debut, he also joined in a sketch that lampooned the scandal, where he was having a maskless party in Alabama.
Wallen’s March 29 show comes on the heels of Lady Gaga’s March 8 high-profile hosting and musical guest stint. Season 50 of SNL has had an eclectic roster of artists, with Tate McRae, Hozier, GloRilla, Gracie Abrams, Shaboozey, Chappell Roan, and Billie Eilish so far. Future episodes will have performances by Lizzo, Brandi Carlile, and Elton John, with hosts Jon Hamm and Jack Black.
