Most Saturday Night Live fans are familiar with arguably the most wholesome segment of the entire show, the “Goodnights.” This segment, which closes out the production, involves the host thanking the audience, cast, and crew for their time before congratulating their peers for a job well done. Usually, the first person to be thanked during “Goodnights” is the accompanying musical guest. They, too, are included in the fun, commended for navigating the live TV obstacle.
Last Saturday, Mikey Madison made her SNL debut with musical guest Morgan Wallen. The country music star had previously made his first SNL appearance back in 2020 with the release of his second studio album, Dangerous: The Double Album. With this in mind, it is safe to assume that Wallen was familiar with not only the concept of “Goodnights,” but the protocols that accompany it.
Despite this, instead of sharing hugs and high-fives with the cast, Wallen casually exited the stage with seemingly no regard for the cast, crew, or other team members who helped make the show the success that it was.
The collective shock from this moment reached longtime SNL cast member Kenan Thompson, who shared his thoughts with Entertainment Weekly, saying, “It’s definitely a spike in the norm. 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?’ Seems like a complicated individual, I guess.”
To add to the chaos, not long after this stunt, Wallen took to Instagram to post a story of the view from his private jet with the caption, “Get me to God’s country.” Immediately, this elicited an outburst from fans who turned their initial shock from this dismissive comment into a viral trend that has taken the Internet by storm. Fans are sharing their own idea of what “God’s country” looks like to them by posting photos of various sacred places, such as The Cheesecake Factory, to this caption.
Thompson also responded to Wallen’s “God Country” comment, saying, “The ‘God’s country’ of it all is strange because it’s like, what are you trying to say? 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 Wallen’s bizarre moves did not stop there. Just three days after his Instagram post, Wallen was quick to capitalize on this comment with the release of “Get me to God’s country” merchandise. Fans wasted no time purchasing the hats and T-shirts that sport this now-infamous saying.
It remains a mystery why Wallen decided to rush off the stage without saying his proper thank yous and goodbyes. His abrupt exit points to the assumption that Wallen had no desire to be on SNL in the first place. Some may interpret the “Get me to God’s country” remark as a stab at SNL or even the state of New York.
I suppose we’ll never know for certain why he made the choice that left the Internet asking the all-important question: What on earth is “God’s country?”