Kenan Thompson is sharing his thoughts on Morgan Wallen’s abrupt exit after performing on “Saturday Night Live.”
The country singer was the musical guest on the March 29 episode of “SNL” hosted by Oscar winner Mikey Madison. At the end of the show, when the “Anora” star was saying her goodbyes as the credits rolled, Wallen left the stage instead of chatting with the cast and greeting one another, as most other guests do.
Wallen’s actions drew strong reactions from viewers, including Thompson.
“I don’t know what goes through people’s minds when they decide to do stuff like that. I don’t know if he understood the assignment or not, or if he was really feeling a certain kind of way,” Thompson told Entertainment Weekly in an interview Monday.
The longest-running cast member said that he “definitely saw it” when Wallen abruptly walked off the stage. “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,” Thompson said. “It’s definitely a spike in the norm. We’re so used to everybody just turning around and high-fiving us, everybody’s saying, ‘Good job, good job, good job.’ So when there’s a departure from that, it’s like, ‘Hmm, I wonder what that’s about?’”
Thompson noted that he “never met” the “I’m The Problem” singer, but said he “seems like a complicated individual, I guess.”
The comedian also said that Wallen isn’t the only guest to previously leave so suddenly.
“Prince did the same thing,” he said, adding, “I’m not saying Morgan Wallen is Prince, but we weren’t surprised because Prince was notoriously kind of standoffish. It’s just how he was. So we just thought like, ‘OK, now he’s gone back into fantasyland.’”
However, he explained that Wallen’s actions were definitely felt by everyone on stage.
“But Saturday I guess it was just different because it just felt so abrupt. And it was already such a small grouping on the stage anyway,” he said. “So it was just like, oh wow, that was pretty visible. You know what I’m saying? It was a pretty visible thing.”
Adding to Wallen’s actions was the artist’s post on his Instagram story. Wallen posted a photo of a private jet on a tarmac with the words, “Get me to God’s country.”
On Sunday, TODAY.com reached out to Wallen’s representatives for comment and clarification on his post but did not hear back.
Thompson, on his end, said that Wallen’s post was “strange” and didn’t understand why he posted it.
“The ‘God’s country’ of it all is strange because it’s like, what are you trying to say? You trying to say that we are not in God’s country? We’re not all in God’s country? We’re not all under God’s umbrella? That’s not necessarily my favorite,” he told EW. “But whatever. Moving on, we got a new show. We got Jack Black this week … We will be fine.”
Wallen has yet to address the reaction to the way he made his “SNL” exit. The singer, however, has a history of controversy that also includes the comedy sketch show.
In October 2020, he was cut as the musical guest after breaking Covid-19 protocols and was seen partying without a mask ahead of his scheduled gig. Wallen was able to rebook his spot in a December show and joked about his canceled performance in a sketch.
