It's the one Saturday Night Live story that just won't go away. Morgan Wallen's premature exit from the March 29 episode returned to the news, and we finally heard from the country superstar himself.
Wallen made headlines earlier this year when he abruptly walked off stage during the goodnights. The musician hugged host Mikey Madison and then took off directly toward the camera to exit as the credits rolled.
It was an awkward moment that became even more of a story after Wallen posted a picture of his private jet and added a caption about getting back to "God's country." Speculation arose that Wallen was difficult during his week at Saturday Night Live and refused to appear in a sketch. There were also reports Wallen planned to walk off, doing a dry run of the stunt during rehearsals.
It seemed as if the story was over the following week when Saturday Night Live responded. "God's country" was referenced in a couple of sketches and a "Weekend Update" joke made Wallen another punchline. For his part, Wallen tried to capitalize on the controversy by selling merch.
Nearly two months later, the story is back in the news. Wallen sat down for a chat with Caleb Pressley on the Sundae Conversation YouTube channel. The SNL episode came up again, and Wallen delivered a relatively weak response.
"Could you fix a TV?" Pressley asked Wallen. "If it was on SNL?" An amused Wallen responded with "I could change it, for sure."
Pressley continued, asking "Seriously, SNL: Did they make you mad?" Wallen denied there was any bad blood with the sketch show.
"No, no. I was ready to go home," he explained. "I've been there all week."
The explanation makes it sound as if Wallen was at Saturday Night Live against his will. The country star doesn't need SNL to help sell records, and SNL doesn't necessarily need Wallen to pull in viewers.
But this wasn't Wallen's first visit to Studio 8H. The show gave him a second chance after he broke COVID-19 protocols in 2020. So Wallen clearly knew what he was getting into when he agreed to be in New York City for another week.
Hopefully, this is the last we'll hear about Morgan Wallen walking off Saturday Night Live. The show is ready to wrap season 50 and major changes could be coming to the show. Meanwhile, Wallen and his music are doing just fine in God's country and just about everywhere else. Time to move on.