Why Did Morgan Wallen Walk Off SNL? Everything We Know So Far

After Morgan Wallen's keenly anticipated performance of ‘Just in Case’ and ’I'm the Problem’ on Saturday Night Live, social media erupted - but not for the reason Wallen intended.

For fans of the Sneedville megastar, the most exciting talking-point was the fact that Morgan Wallen had just dropped a slew of song-titles from his new album, I'm the Problem.

While Wallen delivered a stellar rendition of ‘Just in Case’, a TV flickered to life behind, revealing the names of tracks from his forthcoming record, including, ‘I Got Better’, which is presumably the song he teased in December, originally thought to be called, ‘Since You Got Gone’. In addition, we got the long-awaited ’Come Back As A Redneck’, which features a mystery artist, along with ‘What I Want’ with another surprise guest, ‘LA Night’, ‘Miami’, ‘Skoal, Chevy and Browning’, ‘Where'd That Girl Go’, ‘Genesis’ and ‘Number 3 and Number 7’ - the latter also being a duet.

However, rather than speculation being rife about the featured artists (we're keeping our fingers crossed that Post Malone might be on the guest-list), Morgan Wallen's performances or the nature of the tracks, viewers seemed more concerned with the somewhat peculiar way in which Saturday's episode came to a close.

After the SNL host for the evening, Anora star Mikey Madison, closed out the show alongside Morgan Wallen and the credits began to roll, Wallen hugged and spoke briefly with Madison, before the ‘Last Night’ chart-topper abruptly walked off-stage.

Then, Wallen shared an Instagram Story of a private jet as he prepared to head home to Tennessee, along with the caption, “Get me back to God's country”, implying the ‘Thought You Should Know’ singer-songwriter couldn't leave New York fast enough.

The reason for Morgan Wallen's apparent eagerness to depart has not been revealed, but social media has been awash with theories and conspiracies about Wallen's behaviour.

It's worth highlighting that, usually, both the host and musical guest tend to stick around as the credits roll, as they hug and celebrate a successful show with the SNL cast.

As a result, some have interpreted Morgan Wallen's hurried exit as a slight directed at SNL, with fans backing up this theory with the fact that Wallen looked a little disgruntled during all the promotional content with Mikey Madison and Chloe Fineman last week. A number of commentators have also pointed out how far back the SNL cast were standing during the outro, with this supposedly being some kind of sign amongst members the show that they dislike the guest or host.

One fan - who was in attendance at the show - took to the comments of one of Morgan Wallen's performance videos to claim that Lorne Michaels, SNL's producer, snubbed Wallen on-stage shortly before Mikey Madison delivered her outro speech.

There have been some suggestions that this rumoured tension between Morgan Wallen and the cast arose due to his chequered past, with the chart titan's 2020 SNL appearance being postponed after he was filmed breaking COVID-19 protocols.

Other social media users have chalked this perceived friction down to political differences. This feels particularly tenuous, as Wallen has never spoken publicly about politics.

As this online conjecture has dragged on, some other members of the SNL audience this weekend have expressed support for Morgan Wallen, describing how the ‘Love Somebody’ hitmaker left the stage and went straight to the crowd to sign autographs. There have also been a couple of reports from those in attendance claiming Wallen spent a lot of time chatting to a child with an illness after the show.

Indeed, when he concludes his live performances, Morgan Wallen tends to stay behind for longer than most artists as he autographs items and interacts with fans in the pit.

One account commented, “He went out and signed autographs and met with a sick child. That's what he did... he spent time with a sick child”. Another fan underlined, “We were there. He came out to the audience to meet his fans and to meet a small child who is sick. And he also signed poster and took pictures with everyone”.

Other reports allege that Morgan Wallen was simply doing exactly what he did in rehearsals, and that he was always meant to leave the stage in this way. Furthermore, a source has stressed to Variety that there were no hard feelings between Wallen and the cast.

One of SNL's writers, Josh Patten, made light of Morgan Wallen's “Get me to God's country” comment by sharing the same response on his Instagram Story, alongside a picture of a Krispy Kreme truck. Patten then underlined, though, that he's a big Wallen fan, posting his Apply Music Replay chart from 2023, which featured a slew of tracks from the ‘Lies, Lies, Lies’ crooner's record-breaking album, One Thing At A Time, along with the caption, “How quickly the media forgets”.

Ultimately, we can't know why Morgan Wallen left the Studio 8H stage so quickly - perhaps there was a rift between him and the cast, maybe he was just extra keen to say hello fans before catching his flight, or alternatively, knowing Wallen's penchant for the Tennessee Volunteers (he even gave them a shout-out at the end of his ‘Just in Case’ SNL performance, calling, “Praise the Lord and go Vols, baby!”), it's very possible that Wallen was just trying to get back home in time to see the Volunteers’ match against the Houston Cougars the following day.

Regardless of why, it definitely feels as though some commentators have been making a mountain out of a molehill, with country fans far more concerned with Morgan Wallen's I'm the Problem tracklist teasers. With this Friday (April 4th) the date when many listeners suspected he'd be releasing his blockbuster fourth project, due to the symbolism of the date (4/4), we're hoping Wallen might treat us to the full tracklist - or at least a couple more easter eggs - at the end of the week. One thing's for sure, his SNL double-header has stoked the flames of excitement ahead of what promises to be one of the biggest releases of the year.

For more on Morgan Wallen, see below: