Morgan Wallen Raises Eyebrows After Walking Off 'SNL' Stage

After appearing onstage in Saturday Night Live (SNL) next to this weekend's host, Oscar-winning actor Mikey Madison, country music singer-songwriter Morgan Wallen seemed to walk off a little too quickly, according to some viewers.

On X, formerly Twitter, several users criticized the musician for walking away as soon as the credits started rolling. "Morgan Wallen is the first musical guest I've ever seen just immediately leave the stage after the credits start to roll. No hanging out with the cast, a very, very surface level goodbye to Mikey Madison," one wrote.

Newsweek contacted NBC and Wallen's representative for comment by email on Sunday morning, outside of standard working hours.

Why It Matters

Morgan Wallen's incredible rise in the world of country and pop music has been derailed by a series of controversies that surrounded him in recent years.

In 2020, his planned appearance on SNL was canceled due to a viral TikTok video that showed him ignoring COVID-19 protocols and attending a house party without wearing a face mask. In the same year, he was arrested on public intoxication and disorderly conduct charges outside a bar in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.

A video filmed in January 2021 in which the Tennessee-born singer could be heard drunkenly shouting the N-word at friends outside his home got his label to put him on an indefinite hiatus, and he was disqualified by the 2021 Grammys and the Academy of Country Music Awards. Wallen apologized for using the racial slur, saying there were no excuses.

In December 2024, Wallen was sentenced to spend seven days in a DUI education center and be under supervised probation for two years for throwing a chair from the rooftop of a six-story bar in Nashville in April of that same year and nearly hitting two police officers.

What To Know

In the last few minutes of SNL weekend's episode, host Mikey Madison addressed the camera saying: "Thank you so much to Morgan Wallen, I had a wonderful time, thank you all."

Wallen, standing next to her, can be seen giving a quick smile, nodding, saluting the public, and then quickly telling something to Madison before saying goodbye to the host and walking off stage, right in front of the camera. The footage then cuts to the other guests of the show still hugging, clapping, and chatting on stage.

Wallen's hasty exit has captured the attention of many on social media, who accused the singer of "ruining" the SNL episode with his attitude. Many also pointed out that the rest of the episode's cast was standing "far back" from Wallen and Madison, suggesting they did not like the singer-songwriter.

During the episode, Wallen performed two songs from his new album I'm the Problem—"I'm the Problem" and "Just In Case."

What People Are Saying

Journalist Nick Field wrote on X: "Morgan Wallen is the first musical guest or host on SNL that I can recall who just walked off stage during 'goodnights' before the credits even started to roll."

A social media user with the handle of vickygrizi wrote on X: "Mikey Madison is such a class act to put up with such [a] guy. First musical act I can recall in the last few years storming off of stage before the credits roll."

Another user with the account name luvthomasstan wrote: "Morgan Wallen walking off before the SNL credits were even over... yeah, there's a special place in hell for that man."

Another X user named MStoehrer voiced support for Wallen, writing: "All week I was wondering why he would let a defunct show like SNL exploit him now as #1 country star in the world. He went long con and went out with figurative middle fingers blazing. Tantrums are going to get millions to download...master class."

What's Next

While Wallen does not usually talk about politics and did not offer his endorsement to either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump in 2024, he has become a darling of the Make America Great Again movement and conservatives.

His quick exit from this weekend's SNL episode is already being seen by some as sort of a political statement against the show, which is widely perceived as a liberal bastion, though it mocks all sides of the U.S. political spectrum.