Kenan Thompson, a longtime cast member of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), has shared his reaction to musician Morgan Wallen’s abrupt departure from the show’s stage last weekend. Wallen, the musical guest for the evening, surprised viewers and the cast alike when he left the stage prematurely during the show’s closing moments. “I thought maybe he had to go to the potty or something,” Thompson joked.
Reflecting on the unusual behavior, Thompson remarked, “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.”
Thompson, who has been with SNL for 20 years, expressed his surprise at Wallen’s sudden exit. He noted that it diverged from the usual end-of-show camaraderie where the host and cast typically exchange pleasantries on stage. “It’s definitely a spike in the norm,” Thompson observed.
“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 admitted that he never had the chance to meet Wallen during the latest episode or even during Wallen’s previous appearance in December 2020. Reflecting on the incident, Thompson mused, “Seems like a complicated individual, I guess.”
The surprise departure was not entirely unprecedented in Thompson’s view, who mentioned that legendary musician Prince exhibited similar behavior during his time on the show. “I’m not saying Morgan Wallen is Prince, but we weren’t surprised because Prince was notoriously kind of standoffish.
It’s just how he was.
Thompson reacts to Wallen’s SNL exit
So we just thought like, ‘Okay, now he’s gone back into fantasyland.'”
Later that night, Wallen posted a photo on social media showing a private jet with the caption “Get me to God’s country,” a sentiment Thompson found puzzling.
“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? We’re not all in God’s country? We’re not all under God’s umbrella? That’s not necessarily my favorite,” Thompson remarked before discussing upcoming SNL shows and his new venture to raise awareness about GERD. Despite the unusual events, Thompson remains focused on the future.
“We got a new show. We got Jack Black this week. We’re here talking about GERD.
We will be fine.”
“Saturday Night Live” airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock.
