Kenan Thompson Speaks Out on Morgan Wallen’s Walk-Off on ‘SNL’

Kenan Thompson has broken his silence on Morgan Wallen abruptly walking off the stage at the end of this weekend’s Saturday Night Live episode. The show also revealed the singer’s future and whether or not he will be welcomed back.

“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.

He told the outlet that he “definitely saw” Wallen, who was the night’s musical guest, walk off the stage. “You see somebody before you get a chance to say, ‘Hi’ or say, ‘Good job’ or anything like that, they just dipping,” Thompson said. “I thought maybe he had to go to the potty or something.”

Wallen’s walk-off came as the credits rolled for viewers at home. He side-hugged host Mikey Madison and then left, not acknowledging any of the cast members. Most of the Season 50 cast members didn’t notice or pretended not to, and blew kisses to the camera instead.

Thank you, Mikey Madison and @MorganWallen! Goodnight! pic.twitter.com/FDlInhhHqb

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) March 30, 2025

“It’s definitely a spike in the norm,” Thompson told the outlet. “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 said that he had never met Wallen during the most recent episode or when he performed in December 2020. However, that performance was canceled when he broke COVID-19 protocols.

Later that night, Wallen shared a photo of himself on a private jet with the caption “Get me to God’s country.”

“The ‘God’s country’ of it all is strange because it’s like, what are you trying to say?” Thompson said. “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. But whatever. Moving on, we got a new show. We got Jack Black this week.”

His exit went viral and sparked conversation online about whether or not the country music star had a good time.

“Wow, Morgan Wallen just walking off the stage during the @nbcsnl credits? In decades of watching SNL, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that,” @jefflocker wrote on X. “For so many of us, that is sacred ground. What an a**hole.”

Responding to the private-plane post, @AmayaLancelot wrote, “Morgan Wallen with a little more of the catty-ass petty loser s*** he so proudly displayed running offstage down the center aisle [and] right past the camera at [the] SNL curtain call… This [and] the tone-deaf private jet flaunt couldn’t be more lame [and] undercutting coming from a country star.”

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However, sources close to NBC told TMZ that he is allowed back any time. “There’s no bad blood on their end,” they said. The source said that Wallen’s exit was an awkward moment, but there wasn’t a “joke or cast member that offended him.” He watched the entire dress rehearsal and knew every joke that was told.

Saturday Night Live, Saturdays, 11:30/10:30c, NBC

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