Kenan Thompson says he was thrown by Morgan Wallen‘s “abrupt” exit after performing on Saturday Night Live this weekend. On Monday, the SNL castmember told Entertainment Weekly that he found the country singer’s exit (and his subsequent post about going to “God’s country”) strange.
“It just felt so abrupt. And it was already such a small grouping on the stage anyway. So it was just like, oh wow, that was pretty visible,” Thompson said in the interview. “You know what I’m saying? It was a pretty visible thing.”
Wallen — who went on the show to promote his forthcoming album I’m the Problem — drew speculation from viewers online after he walked off the Rockefeller Center set just as credits started to roll on NBC. Later on, the country singer shared a photo of a private jet with the caption “Get me to God’s country” on his Instagram Stories.
“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? … That’s not necessarily my favorite,” Thompson told the outlet. “But whatever.”
Earlier in the interview, Thompson questioned the country musician’s decision to walk off the stage before filming wrapped. “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,” he said, confirming that he “definitely saw” when Wallen walked off, although they never met.
“It’s definitely a spike in the norm,” Thompson said. “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?”
Shortly following the incident, Variety reported Wallen’s departure from the set was not intentional and that “no slight was intended” although SNL did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.
Wallen’s post-exit Instagram Story even spawned a meme trend on social media, with accounts like the Empire State Building, the Carolina Panthers, and even a U.S. Senator sharing photos of their favorite places with the caption, “Get me to God’s country.”
