Latest news with #YearOfTheSnake
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Morgan Wallen Explains Abrupt ‘SNL' Exit: ‘I Was Just Ready to Go Home'
Morgan Wallen's abrupt exit from the Saturday Night Live stage during cast goodbyes made for good content. 'Weekend Update' hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che slipped jokes about it into the next episode. Cast favorite Kenan Thompson also responded. Now, more than a month later, Wallen is offering an explanation. Wallen appeared on the podcast Sundae Conversations with host Caleb Pressley, who asked him, 'Seriously, SNL, did they make you mad?' The singer's response was brief. 'No, no, I was just ready to go home,' he said. 'I been there all week.' More from Rolling Stone 'SNL': Watch Arcade Fire Perform 'Pink Elephant,' 'Year Of The Snake' 'SNL' Weekend Update Shuts Down 'Woke' Pope Complaints, Trashes Trump's Alcatraz Revival 'SNL' Cold Open: 'AA Team' Jeanine Pirro, Pete Hegseth Have One Big, Boozy Reunion The conversation moved on just as quickly as Wallen walked off the stage. There wasn't much context provided to the Instagram Story post he shared following his departure, which featured a picture of a private plane with the caption, 'Get me to God's country.' Wallen started selling merchandise using the phrase within 48 hours of the post. '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 an interview that same week. '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. But whatever.' Appearing on Saturday Night Live is a week-long commitment that typically includes sit-downs with writers, other cast members, and general rehearsals. Wallen had a lighter lift, given that he only performed, while Mikey Madison completed all of the preparation required of a host. The singer was reportedly asked to be in a sketch with Madison, Bowen Yang, Chloe Fineman, Ego Nwodim, and Sarah Sherman, but declined. He was replaced by Joe Jonas. Wallen appeared on SNL once before, though that was marred with controversy, too. He was originally scheduled to make his debut on an October 2020 episode, but his offer to perform was rescinded after videos surfaced of the singer partying with clear violations to the show's Covid-19 protocols. Wallen eventually joined an episode that December, performing two songs and appearing in a sketch that poked fun at the cancelled performance. Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
NHK
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NHK
Giant snake-shaped portable shrine parades through Japanese hot spring resort
Hundreds of people in Gunma Prefecture, north of Tokyo, have paraded with a special giant snake-shaped portable shrine for the first time in 12 years to mark the Year of the Snake, the Oriental zodiac symbol for 2025. The Daija Festival got underway at the Oigami Onsen hot spring resort in the city of Numata on Friday. Daija means giant snake in Japanese. Legend has it that the god of the nearby Mount Akagi turned into a giant snake before spewing out hot spring water. The annual event usually features a 30-meter-long portable shrine that is carried through the streets. But this year, the shrine measures more than 108 meters in celebration of the Year of the Snake. About 300 people, including local junior and high school students, chanted as they lifted the 2-ton portable shrine and started parading through the streets. Smiling visitors cheered them on. A woman from Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, said she felt energized. The festival will continue through Saturday.
