Morgan Wallen courts controversy after walking off 'SNL': 'Petty loser'

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After performing two songs from his forthcoming album, I’m The Problem, Morgan Wallen stirred controversy early Sunday morning when he abruptly walked off the stage during the closing credits of Saturday Night live.

Instead of gladhanding with the rest of the cast, the 31-year-old country superstar said a brief few words to host Mikey Madison, giving her a one-armed hug, before marching off without so much as a glance behind him.

Shortly afterwards, Wallen posted a photo of a private plane waiting for him on a tarmac in New York, captioning it, “Get me to God’s country.”

But the two-time Grammy nominee riled some fans of the show, who shared screenshots of cast members Ego Nwodim and Kenan Thompson reacting to his getaway and accusing him of being a “petty loser” for storming off.

“Morgan Wallen with a little more of the catty-ass petty loser s— he so proudly displayed running offstage down the center aisle & right past the camera at SNL curtain call,” one person swiped on X. “This & the tone-deaf private jet flaunt couldn’t be more lame & undercutting coming from a country star.”

Another viewer said he was “noticeably sour” during his performance.

“SNL was phenomenal last night except for Morgan Wallen. Every bit to the end was funny and well done. Even his set was really cool. But he was noticeably sour, both performances were angry and weird. This was really disrespectful. Stop booking nazis @nbcsnl,” they wrote.

Another tweet said, “Morgan Wallen barely acknowledges Mikey Madison and then immediately storms off stage like a baby during the SNL goodbyes. Woof.”

“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. For so many of us, that is sacred ground. What an a——,” one fan wrote.

A fourth person referenced Wallen’s scandal-plagued personal life, writing, “Morgan Wallen had to run off the stage at SNL to get back to ‘God’s Country’ where you apparently say the N-word and throw chairs off of tall buildings with absolutely no meaningful consequences.”

Wallen’s career hit a speed bumps after he was caught on video calling his friend the N-word after a night out in 2021 and again last year when he was accused of throwing a chair off the top of Nashville bar. The Sand in My Boots singer also had been scratched as a musical guest on SNL back in 2020 after he was allegedly filmed partying without a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But as social media commentary swirled into Monday morning about his latest antics, many of his fans praised Wallen for ignoring the liberal cast on Saturday night.

Author Buzz Patterson shared a clip of Wallen’s exit from 30 Rockefeller Plaza along with an applause emoji and writing, “Morgan Wallen shows the SNL cast exactly how he feels. Love it.”

“All this hate to Morgan Wallen because he walked off stage before the end credits as if he hasn’t been getting bashed literally all week by all you insane liberals. He doesn’t owe you anything and you all are low life haters who can’t let go of the past. Like grow tf up,” a second cheered.

“It ain’t rocket science: Morgan Wallen dipped because the entire cast (queen Mikey excluded) are a bunch of self-righteous, sanctimonious s—libs who think they’re better than conservatives. I wouldn’t hang around longer than I had to either,” another person wrote.

But a source close to Wallen told TMZ that his hasty departure was an “oopsie moment” and he wasn’t trying to make a big statement.

He “entered and exited the studio the same way he did Saturday night during rehearsal and camera blocking all week leading up to the live show … so he routinely headed that way when he thought it was time to go,” they told the outlet.

Another insider told Variety that Wallen “had a good time and no slight was intended with either his prominent exit or his Instagram post.”

“The buzz misreads the star just being off-the-cuff as usual,” the trade reported. “When Wallen made a quick dart toward the camera to make his getaway, it was simply an ‘oops’ moment … that was the way he entered and exited the studio all week during rehearsal and camera blocking, so he wasn’t thinking about being on-camera when he strolled off stage.”

Wallen’s 37-track I’m The Problem record is due out in May and the singer is set to visit 20 stadiums across North America this summer, with stops planned in Toronto and Edmonton in September.

mdaniell@postmedia.com