Morgan Wallen’s unexpected sprint from the Saturday Night Live stage left online users buzzing with speculation. Now, a lip reader weighs in on the moment that left fans and cast members scratching their heads, hoping to offer some clarity on what the singer said before his abrupt exit.
Morgan Wallen knows how to grab attention, whether it’s through his chart-topping country hits or – apparently – his unexpected departures.
When the country star wrapped up his musical guest duties on the March 29 episode of Saturday Night Live, fans expected him to stick around for the traditional end-of-show goodbyes.
Traditionally, after the final sketch, the entire SNL cast, host, and musical guest gather on stage to wave, hug, and chat as the credits roll.
But the 31-year-old country singer had a different plan on how to end the episode, which was hosted by actor Mikey Madison, who recently won her first Oscar for her role in the 2024 film Anora.
Instead of engaging with the cast, the “Whiskey Glasses” singer hugged Madison, waved to the audience, and made a quick exit before the cameras even had time to pan away.
Cast baffled
Wallen’s unexpected sprint off stage has everyone talking – including SNL veteran Kenan Thompson, the show’s longest-tenured cast member in history.
When the “Man Made a Bar” singer fled the stage, the comic later confirmed he “definitely saw it” and was baffled to see the singer “dipping.”
“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 told Entertainment Weekly. “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…they just dipping…I thought maybe he had to go to the potty or something.”
‘Petulant child’
Meanwhile, fans watching at home wasted no time jumping on social media to analyze the moment.
“He’s been there before and knew exactly what he was doing,” one Redditor writes, referring to Wallen’s December 2020 appearance on SNL. Two months before that, the singer was uninvited from the show when videos showed him partying without a mask in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. The post continues, “He wanted to show the audience he didn’t care for the cast or doing the show.”
“Kinda crazy how everyone on that stage clearly really likes each other and yet Morgan Wallen storming off stage like a petulant child,” a second online user tweets.
“His widdie biddie feewings probably got hurt watching people of all colors, genders and sexual orientations coming together,” offered a third.
A fourth offers, “Has anyone considered the fact that maybe he really had to poop?”
‘That was weird’
Hoping to quiet some of the noise, professional lip reader Nicola Hicking offered her interpretation of the conversation the singer of “I Had Some Help” had with Madison before storming off.
Speaking with Unilad, Hicking claims Wallen said: “Thank you all so much, I had a wonderful time thank you all mwah mwah mwah.”
One Twitter user claimed that veteran SNL cast member Mikey Day turned to a fellow performer and muttered, “That was weird,” in response to Wallen’s exit.
However, Hicking offered a different take. She suggested that Day may have actually said: “Chatting to you was really good.”
The lip reader also proposed that Colin Jost told a cast member: “You gotta remember how he is feeling.” And without context that could mean anything.
‘God’s country’
Adding another layer of mystery to his unexpected departure, USA Today reports that after the episode, the “I’m the Problem” singer shared a cryptic Instagram story with a photo of a plan, captioned: “Get me to God’s country.”
His post might refer to Tennessee, his home state and the heartland of country music.
‘Complicated individual’
Meanwhile, Thomspon told Entertainment Weekly he’s still puzzled over Wallen’s snappy exit.
“Seems like a complicated individual, I guess,” Thompson, 46, said, adding that the late Prince also walked off the stage.
“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. So we just thought like, ‘Okay, now he’s gone back into fantasyland.'”
The sketch comic, an SNL cast member since 2003, added, “But [March 29] I guess it was just different because 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. You know what I’m saying? It was a pretty visible thing.”
Unless the singer clears things up, all we can do is guess – and maybe hope a few more lip readers offer their expertise.
What do you think of Wallen’s abrupt departure from SNL? Please share your thoughts with us and then share this story so we can hear what others have to say!
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