Latest news with #GodsCountry
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Morgan Wallen Speaks Out About Abrupt ‘SNL' Exit: 'I Was Just Ready to Go Home'
Morgan Wallen has broken his silence about his abrupt Saturday Night Live exit and the cryptic Instagram post that followed. In March, the country star performed two songs on the NBC sketch show from his upcoming album, I'm the Problem, including the title track and 'Just in Case.' During the closing credits, Wallen was seen standing next to guest host Mikey Madison, a newly minted best actress Oscar winner for her role in Anora. More from The Hollywood Reporter NBC Planning 100th Anniversary TV Special in 2026 UMG Announces Matt Ellis As Chief Financial Officer NBC Hires Michael Jordan to Contribute to NBA Coverage 'I had a wonderful time, thank you all,' Madison said as the band played and the closing credits began to roll. Wallen then gave Madison a hug and said something in her ear and abruptly walked off the stage. Afterward, he posted on his Instagram Stories an image of what looked like a private jet on the runway with the caption 'Get me to God's country.' Wallen recently appeared on Caleb Pressley's Sundae Conversations, where the host asked him about the moment. The conversation started with Pressley asking Wallen if he was handy around the house. 'Could you fix a TV,' Pressley started, pausing a beat before adding, 'if it was on SNL?' Wallen laughed, then said: 'I could change it for sure.' Pressley then asked: 'Seriously, SNL — did they make you mad?' 'No, no,' Wallen said. 'I was just ready to go home. I'd been there all week.' Pressley then brought up Wallen's 'Get me to God's country' post, to which Wallen just smiled and said, 'Yeah.' SNL star Kenan Thompson weighed in on the move in an interview with Entertainment Weekly a few days afterward. 'I don't know what goes through people's minds when they decide to do stuff like that,' he said. 'I don't know if he understood the assignment or not or if he was really feeling a certain kind of way.' SNL writer Josh Patten, who says he's a fan of Wallen, poked fun at the situation, posting the 'God's Country' phrase with a photo of a Krispy Kreme truck. For his part, Wallen leaned into the viral moment, launching 'Get Me to God's Country' merchandise on his website. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More
News.com.au
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Morgan Wallen reveals the real reason behind his abrupt SNL exit
Morgan Wallen has broken his silence on why he made his abrupt exit at the end of Saturday Night Live in March. When the 31-year-old country sensation appeared on the podcast Sundae Conversation, host Caleb Pressley asked him, 'Seriously, SNL, did they make you mad?' 'No, no, I was [just] ready to go home,' said Wallen, who skipped the usual fraternising with the cast at the end of the March 29 show. It was the second time he was a musical guest on the live sketch-comedy series, reports the New York Post. 'I'd been there all week,' he said about the show's typical rehearsal schedule ahead of the live Saturday show. Wallen stood next to host Mikey Madison as she closed out the show with the rest of the cast behind them. The Whiskey Glasses singer then leaned over to Madison, 26, whispered something to her, gave her a one-armed hug and walked off the stage as everyone else celebrated completing another episode. Following his unexplained exit, Wallen skipped the after-party and posted a photo of a private plane on his Instagram story with the caption, 'Get me to God's country.' SNL writer Josh Patten poked fun at Wallen on his own IG stories with a photo of a Krispy Kreme truck with the back end open, and the same caption: 'get me to God's country.' Meanwhile, longtime cast member Kenan Thompson weighed in on the controversy. 'You see somebody before you get a chance to say hi or say good job or anything like that, they just dipping,' he told Entertainment Weekly. 'I thought maybe he had to go to the potty or something.' 'It's definitely a spike in the norm,' Thompson added. '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?' In true Saturday Night Live fashion, the show turned around and roasted Wallen — not once but twice. During the April 5 show's cold open, cast member James Austin Johnson — playing President Donald Trump — was giving a rundown of his 'Liberation Day' reciprocal tariffs when he made a 'get me to God's country' dig at Wallen. Wallen was mocked again later in the show during 'Weekend Update.' Co-host Colin Jost compared Wallen's departure to the stock market after the tariffs were announced. 'Just in the past two days, investors have lost more than $6 trillion,' he said. 'Money is leaving the stock market faster than Morgan Wallen at goodnights.' But Wallen — who releases his new album, I'm the Problem, on Friday — may have had the last laugh. The musician began selling 'get me to God's country' merchandise in reference to his viral quote, with an apparel line including a T-shirt and a baseball cap, the latter of which is available in two different colours. Each item costs $45.
CNN
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Morgan Wallen says he was ‘just ready to go home' while addressing abrupt exit on ‘SNL'
Morgan Wallen has no bad blood with 'Saturday Night Live' after his abrupt exit at the end of a March episode sparked speculation online. The 'Last Night' singer addressed the moment while appearing on an episode of 'Sundae Conversation with Caleb Pressley' on Sunday, giving a simple explanation as to why it appeared he was so quick to leave the show. 'I was ready to go home,' Wallen added. 'I had been there all week.' Wallen was the musical guest on the March 29 episode of 'SNL' and confused some viewers at the time when he suddenly left the stage during the show's credits, where the cast and guests traditionally linger and hug each other. After giving the episode's host Mikey Madison a brief hug, Wallen walked off the stage toward the side of the camera without acknowledging any of the show's cast members. That same night, shortly after his departure, Wallen posted a photo of a plane on a runway with text across it that read, 'Get me to God's country' on his Instagram Story. The post caused speculation about his experience, which spawned an internet reaction as well as an amusing mention in the following week's 'Weekend Update' segment of the show. A source familiar with the situation previously told CNN that the country singer used the same path to enter and exit the studio as he had all week during rehearsals, and simply walked that same way after hugging Madison. After the episode, longtime 'SNL' cast member Kenan Thompson told Entertainment Weekly in an interview that Wallen's exit was not 'the norm.' 'It just felt so abrupt,' Thompson said. 'And it was already such a small grouping on the stage anyway. So it was just like, oh wow, that was pretty visible.'
CNN
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Morgan Wallen says he was ‘just ready to go home' while addressing abrupt exit on ‘SNL'
Morgan Wallen has no bad blood with 'Saturday Night Live' after his abrupt exit at the end of a March episode sparked speculation online. The 'Last Night' singer addressed the moment while appearing on an episode of 'Sundae Conversation with Caleb Pressley' on Sunday, giving a simple explanation as to why it appeared he was so quick to leave the show. 'I was ready to go home,' Wallen added. 'I had been there all week.' Wallen was the musical guest on the March 29 episode of 'SNL' and confused some viewers at the time when he suddenly left the stage during the show's credits, where the cast and guests traditionally linger and hug each other. After giving the episode's host Mikey Madison a brief hug, Wallen walked off the stage toward the side of the camera without acknowledging any of the show's cast members. That same night, shortly after his departure, Wallen posted a photo of a plane on a runway with text across it that read, 'Get me to God's country' on his Instagram Story. The post caused speculation about his experience, which spawned an internet reaction as well as an amusing mention in the following week's 'Weekend Update' segment of the show. A source familiar with the situation previously told CNN that the country singer used the same path to enter and exit the studio as he had all week during rehearsals, and simply walked that same way after hugging Madison. After the episode, longtime 'SNL' cast member Kenan Thompson told Entertainment Weekly in an interview that Wallen's exit was not 'the norm.' 'It just felt so abrupt,' Thompson said. 'And it was already such a small grouping on the stage anyway. So it was just like, oh wow, that was pretty visible.'
Fox News
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Morgan Wallen breaks silence on 'SNL' after abrupt exit sparked controversy
Morgan Wallen was ready to go home – and he meant it. Back on March 29, the "I'm the Problem" singer was the musical guest for "Saturday Night Live" when he abruptly left the stage during the traditional end-of-show credits segment. Shortly after leaving Manhattan's 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Wallen wrote that he was excited to return home. The country music star shared a photo on his Instagram Stories of a private jet with the caption "Get me to God's country" written over it. On Sunday, the 31-year-old appeared on comedian Caleb Pressley's podcast when he finally addressed his sudden exit. "Seriously, 'SNL,' did they make you mad?" the host questioned after cracking several jokes. "No, no, I was just ready to go home," said Wallen. "I've been there all week." During the episode, the two also poked fun at another incident that landed the star in hot water. "Do you mind if we do a new segment presented by Food Barn, please?" said Pressley. "In this segment, I want you to name a thing that you can sit in that also flies through the air." "I mean, there's one obvious answer," said Wallen. "Why do you want me to say that though? I mean, yeah, a jet." "There's another answer to that question as well," Pressley teased. "You can sit in it, and it can also fly through the air." "Oh, I know the answer to that question," said the singer. "A chair!" In 2024, Wallen was sentenced to spend seven days in a DUI education center and be under supervised probation for two years after throwing a chair from the rooftop of a Nashville, Tennessee, bar. The chair nearly hit two police officers. Regarding the "SNL" incident, sources previously told Fox News Digital that nothing was wrong at the show, and Wallen's walk-off appeared to be an "oops" moment. "That was the way he entered and exited the studio all week during rehearsal and camera blocking, so he just walked that way after hugging [host] Mikey [Madison]," an insider revealed. It is customary for "SNL" guests to stay and congratulate the cast. In the episode, Madison thanked the "Last Night" singer for appearing on the show before he walked directly off the stage. Cameras then panned out to the cast congratulating each other. During his appearance, Wallen performed two songs from his upcoming album, including "Just in Case" and "I'm the Problem." While the sudden exit sparked rumors of a disagreement between Wallen and "SNL," he appeared unfazed. Instead, Morgan capitalized on the viral exit by selling merchandise with the phrase "Get me to God's country" written on them. A week after Wallen's appearance, "SNL" addressed the incident in a cold-open bit, reported. According to the outlet, James Austin Johnson's Donald Trump impersonation took a shot at Wallen while discussing "Liberation Day" tariffs. "I even put tariffs on an island uninhabited by humans," said Johnson in character. "It's called Heard and McDonald Island. I would love to visit there. Can you imagine that? Big Mac and a hula skirt. Get me to God's country, right? Remember that?" The outlet reported that during that same April 5 episode, Colin Jost targeted the singer during a bit about the economy. "This was the worst week for the stock market since the summer of 2020," he said. "But you have to remember — back then, the president was also Trump. Just in the past two days, investors have lost over $6 trillion. Money is leaving the stock market faster than Morgan Wallen at goodnights." Kenan Thompson also spoke out about the unusual quickstep. "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 said. Still, the comic noted that Prince pulled a similar move during his appearance years ago. "I'm not saying Morgan Wallen is Prince, but we weren't surprised because Prince was notoriously kind of standoffish," Thompson said. "It's just how he was. So, we just thought like, 'OK, now he's gone back into fantasyland.'" Morgan's return to "SNL" was years in the making following a controversial debut. WATCH: MORGAN WALLEN RAISES EYEBROWS FOR WALKING OFF 'SNL' BEFORE SHOW END Roughly seven months into the pandemic, Wallen was asked to be the musical guest on an October episode of "Saturday Night Live." Days before he was scheduled to perform, footage went viral across social media showing the singer not wearing a COVID mask at an Alabama football game and celebrating with various women at a bar afterward. People who supported masks and social distancing during the pandemic were outraged. He was immediately removed from the scheduled "SNL" appearance. Wallen apologized in a video shared online. "I'm in New York City in a hotel room, I was getting ready for 'SNL' this Saturday, and I got a call from the show letting me know that I will no longer be able to play," he said. "That's because of COVID protocols, which I understand." After apologizing, he added, "I think I've lost myself a little bit. I've tried to find joy in the wrong places, and it's left me with less joy. So I'mma go try to work on that. I'm gonna take a step back from the spotlight for a while and go work on myself." Two months later, Wallen was invited back to 30 Rockefeller Plaza for a second chance on "Saturday Night Live." He not only performed, but also poked fun at his bar antics while appearing in a sketch with Pete Davidson, Jason Bateman and Bowen Yang. When the episode was over, he thanked the audience for "giving this poor Southern boy a second Yankee chance."
