Morgan Wallen reveals the real reason behind his abrupt SNL exit

Morgan Wallen was widely roasted for his bizarre act on the live sketch show – and now he’s finally explained what happened.

Morgan Wallen has broken his silence on why he made his abrupt exit at the end of Saturday Night Live in March.

When the 31-year-old country sensation appeared on the podcast Sundae Conversation, host Caleb Pressley asked him, “Seriously, SNL, did they make you mad?”

“No, no, I was [just] ready to go home,” said Wallen, who skipped the usual fraternising with the cast at the end of the March 29 show. It was the second time he was a musical guest on the live sketch-comedy series, reports the New York Post.

“I’d been there all week,” he said about the show’s typical rehearsal schedule ahead of the live Saturday show.

Wallen's abrupt SNL exit sparked plenty of controversy.

Wallen stood next to host Mikey Madison as she closed out the show with the rest of the cast behind them.

The Whiskey Glasses singer then leaned over to Madison, 26, whispered something to her, gave her a one-armed hug and walked off the stage as everyone else celebrated completing another episode.

Following his unexplained exit, Wallen skipped the after-party and posted a photo of a private plane on his Instagram story with the caption, “Get me to God’s country.”

SNL writer Josh Patten poked fun at Wallen on his own IG stories with a photo of a Krispy Kreme truck with the back end open, and the same caption: “get me to God’s country.”

Meanwhile, longtime cast member Kenan Thompson weighed in on the controversy.

“You see somebody before you get a chance to say hi or say good job or anything like that, they just dipping,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “I thought maybe he had to go to the potty or something.”

“It’s definitely a spike in the norm,” Thompson added. “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?”

He was roasted by plenty of other celebs – including SNL cast members. Picture: John Shearer

In true Saturday Night Live fashion, the show turned around and roasted Wallen — not once but twice.

During the April 5 show’s cold open, cast member James Austin Johnson — playing President Donald Trump — was giving a rundown of his “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs when he made a “get me to God’s country” dig at Wallen.

Wallen was mocked again later in the show during “Weekend Update.”

Co-host Colin Jost compared Wallen’s departure to the stock market after the tariffs were announced.

“Just in the past two days, investors have lost more than $6 trillion,” he said. “Money is leaving the stock market faster than Morgan Wallen at goodnights.”

But Wallen — who releases his new album, I’m the Problem, on Friday — may have had the last laugh.

The musician began selling “get me to God’s country” merchandise in reference to his viral quote, with an apparel line including a T-shirt and a baseball cap, the latter of which is available in two different colours. Each item costs $45.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.