It’s not often the talk coming out of a Saturday Night Live episode is predominantly about what happened during the closing credits, but here we are two days later on a Monday, still trying to figure out what happened with Morgan Wallen. The country star walked off stage immediately after host Mikey Madison said her goodbyes, and the follow-up speculation has been all over the place. Yesterday, one of SNL’s writers referenced what happened on social media, but rather than clarifying, I’m now even more confused.
For ninety-nine percent of its runtime, this past Saturday’s episode of SNL was totally normal, but as Madison was closing the show, she gave Wallen a sort-of side hug and then he just walked toward the camera and out of frame. Anyone who watches Saturday Night Live on a regular basis can tell you how odd that is.
Almost every single week, the host and the musical guest spend the closing credits hugging and mingling with the cast members. Occasionally, something odd happens, and it always takes fans by surprise. So, social media immediately blew up with videos of what happened and questions about why. Then, Wallen posted an Instagram story with a picture of a plane and a caption that said “Get me to God’s country,” which, of course, only made the questions louder.
Yesterday, longtime SNL writer Josh Patten weighed in on the controversy when he posted a picture of a Krispy Kreme truck with a caption that said “Get me to God’s country.” His joke was initially taken by many to be a shot at Wallen and proof that there was a rift with the cast and crew. You can take a look at the Instagram Story below…
Case closed, right? Well, not so fast. After someone asked him if he hated Wallen, Patten responded with additional Instagram stories, which included one with an eye-rolling emoji and another that was a screenshot of his most played Apple Music songs, which included plenty of Morgan Wallen. He also included a story of himself sinking a three pointer in an all-time troll move since he obviously knew everyone was obsessing over his Insta Stories.
So, what are we supposed to take from this? Probably nothing. My guess is Patten, who isn’t really a celebrity and not used to having his Instagram monitored, dropped a funny little reference to Wallen’s Instagram Story with the plane. Maybe there was a little subtle shade to it. Maybe it was just a reference to Krispy Kreme Donuts being his God’s country. Either way, he wasn’t trying to speak for the entire SNL cast and crew so he dropped some subsequent Stories to make it clear he’s not anti-Morgan Wallen. Maybe that’s because he’s really not anti-Morgan Wallen. Maybe that’s because he didn’t want to cause any issues.
Long story short, I’m still confused about what happened, and I don’t think this really did anything to clarify the situation. Sources close to Wallen said yesterday that he didn’t mean any offense and had entered and exited the stage that way all week. So, maybe this is all much ado about nothing. Maybe his Instagram story about God's country wasn't a middle finger. Or maybe something really did happen, and he walked off stage because he wasn’t interested in exchanging pleasantries with everyone who worked on the show. We just don’t know, and it might be awhile before people do more than cryptically reference it.
Saturday Night Live will return next week with host Jack Black and musical guests Elton John and Brandy Carlile. My guess is they'll hug and mingle with the cast during the closing credits like usual, but we'll just have to wait and see.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
