\n<\/p>\n
At the end of every \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d episode, the host, the musical guest and cast members assemble onstage to say goodbye to the audience and viewers at home. While the music plays and the credits roll, they make small talk, shake hands and say their farewells.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s not much to think about.<\/p>\n
Usually.<\/p>\n
Social media has been abuzz since Morgan Wallen, the pop-country superstar who was the musical guest on Saturday<\/a>, walked offstage while the end credits rolled, leaving behind the host, Mikey Madison, and the rest of the \u201cS.N.L.\u201d cast. It is not clear whether his sudden exit was an intentional message.<\/p>\n Here is what we do know.<\/p>\n After Madison made her closing remarks, she turned to Wallen and hugged him. They shared a few words off mic before he walked offstage into the audience past the camera. Shortly after the show ended, Wallen posted a picture to his Instagram stories of a jet with the caption, \u201cGet me to God\u2019s country.\u201d<\/p>\n It was unclear what Wallen, who in recent years was rebuked by music industry\u2019s gatekeepers<\/a> after a video surfaced of him using a racial slur, meant by the statement or why he left the stage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Representatives for Wallen, who performed two songs from his upcoming album \u201cI\u2019m the Problem,\u201d and \u201cS.N.L.\u201d did not immediately return requests for comment on Monday. (Variety cited anonymous sources to say that the exit was an \u201coops\u201d moment<\/a> and that it was the route Wallen had used all week.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n While \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d is often the subject of scrutiny and social media chatter, the attention has been even more intense since its 50th season began in September, weeks before the presidential election<\/a>. Wallen is also a central figure in popular culture, a powerhouse on the music charts despite his controversies (he pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment<\/a> last year after throwing a chair from the roof of a Nashville bar).<\/p>\n Strong reactions to a musician from a genre that leans politically conservative is only the latest \u201cS.N.L.\u201d moment to provoke conversation online.<\/p>\n Bill Burr\u2019s post-election monologue upset many<\/a> when he mocked cancel culture and joked about how female candidates should dress more provocatively. Tom Hanks drew ire when he appeared as a MAGA supporter<\/a> who was uncomfortable shaking a Black man\u2019s hand in a sketch called \u201cBlack Jeopardy.\u201d Shane Gillis drew sharp criticism this month when he hosted the show<\/a> five years after being fired for using slurs on old podcast appearances<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It depends on who you ask. Dustin Kidd, a professor of sociology at Temple University and an expert in popular media, said in a statement on Monday that it was customary for the musical guest to remain onstage as the closing music plays.<\/p>\n \u201cMost people grow up watching \u2018S.N.L.\u2019 and would know that, and certainly someone planning to perform would know that,\u201d he said. \u201cThe show would have been carefully blocked in advance.\u201d<\/p>\n Kidd added that Wallen\u2019s Instagram story after the show seemed to indicate that he also skipped the customary after-party<\/a>.<\/p>\n James Andrew Miller, the co-author of \u201cLive From New York,\u201d an oral history of \u201cSaturday Night Live,\u201d said in an interview that Wallen\u2019s exit was a \u201ctad askew\u201d and an \u201coutlier.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think that for 50 years, most of the time the goodbyes go without incident or without any kind of exceptional behavior on anyone\u2019s part,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen something does go awry, I think it just attracts an inordinate amount of attention.\u201d<\/p>\n Wallen was first scheduled to perform in October 2020 but was not allowed to because he violated coronavirus protocols<\/a>. Videos on social media had shown him drinking shots, kissing fans and mingling in groups after a college football game while not wearing a mask or following other social-distancing guidelines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhat happened?<\/h2>\n
Why did the moment become such a hot topic?<\/h2>\n
Did Wallen break protocol?<\/h2>\n
What is Wallen\u2019s history with \u2018S.N.L.\u2019?<\/h2>\n