What Did Morgan Wallen Do When He Got to ‘God’s Country?’

A few ideas.

Musical guest Morgan Wallen and host Mikey Madison during Goodnights & Credits on the March 29, 2025, episode of Saturday Night Live. (Photo: Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images)

By now, you know that Morgan Wallen, a country music star with an even worse reputation than other country music stars,¹ walked off the set of Saturday Night Live last weekend. He was the night’s musical guest, alongside host (and recent Oscar-winner) Mikey Madison. When it was time for the show’s clap-clap goodnights, in which the host and musical guest generally hug and thank the cast and crew who helped them survive Hollywood’s greatest hazing ritual,² Wallen stomped offstage. He crossed right in front of the cameras, his displeasure apparent. He did not attend the after party. A few hours later, he posted a photo of his private jet on the tarmac with the caption “Get me to God’s country.”

I will ignore for a moment that New York City, where you can currently see Denzel Washington sonning Jake Gyllenhaal on Broadway and where you can at any moment get knotless braids, a slice of pizza, or an unbelievably sexy assassin is “God’s country.” (God blessed this divine town, this city upon a thrill, with a mayor who is a comedian first, a liar second, a club rat third, and a public servant, like, seventh. Not many other cities could withstand him.) If New York City is not “God’s country,” then why did God give us Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese and Nicole Holofcener? Succession, Sex and the City, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Girls — that’s “God’s country” to me. I could go on.

Oh he doesn’t think SNL is funny anymore? Let me guess: he thinks the friends from the Devil Wears Prada were mean and that Carrie Bradshaw was the villain… (Photo: Screenshot)

Wallen’s storming off resulted in one of the greatest People blogs in recent memory: “Why Morgan Wallen Bucked SNL Tradition and Left Stage Before the Rest of Cast and Crew (Source).” The “why” is not answered in the article, necessarily. He “had a good reason for leaving Saturday Night Live early — breaking a tradition for cast and crew — according to a source,” People reports. The “good reason” was that departing that way “was the same way he entered and exited the New York City studio all week during rehearsal and camera blocking.” Are we to believe that Wallen, 31 and surely familiar with doors, only knew of one way to enter and leave Studio 8H? Did he think everyone else left that way, all week? Did he not see any other doors? Am I to believe the iconic NBC Page Program is no longer sending its best?