Morgan Wallen dodges ‘SNL’ cast post-show, sparking criticism
Morgan Wallen sparked controversy by abruptly walking off stage at the end of “Saturday Night Live” after serving as the musical guest.
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Tate McRae, the up-and-coming Canadian pop star, is drawing criticism for an upcoming song with Morgan Wallen.
After the controversial country superstar announced collaborations on his aptly titled album “I’m The Problem,” Wallen shared future songs with frequent collaborators: Post Malone, Hardy, Ernest and Eric Church. But one name stood out: McRae. The forthcoming McRae feature marks Wallen’s first major collaboration with a woman.
McRae first teased the news on April 15 after she posted a picture of a jersey with Wallen’s initials on her Instagram story.
Fans flooded McRae’s Instagram post from April 16, slamming the “Revolving Door” hitmaker for her upcoming Wallen collab: “I was rooting for you, we were all rooting for you! How dare you?” one commenter said while another added, “Girl we love you pls cancel that collab with Wallen pls.” One person wrote, “now why would you go and do that.”
But Wallen fans expressed excitement about the duet on his post, with one user’s comment “37 SONGS AND TATE MCRAE??? 🤯😍🤯😍” getting more than 8,000 likes. Fellow country singer Austin Snell wrote, “Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae will literally break the internet.”
In a Billboard feature published in 2023, Wallen opened up about his lack of collaborations with women in the music industry but declined to name names during his interview with the outlet.
“I’ve reached out to a couple of people, and they’ve turned me down,” Wallen told Billboard. “I just really want certain people, and I haven’t gotten the chance to do it yet. I’m going to keep trying to write songs for it or write with them.” He added that he “would love” to write with more women, as well.
Morgan Wallen is one of country music’s most controversial figures
Wallen, a country chart topper, has courted controversy for a half-decade in (and outside) Nashville, Tennessee.
Most recently, the “I’m the Problem” singer served as musical guest on the March 29 episode of “SNL,” hosted by Oscar-winning “Anora” actress Mikey Madison. When it came time for the signoff at the end of the show, the singer walked off the stage immediately after Madison said goodnight. Wallen briefly hugged the actress but seemed to ignore the rest of the cast and quickly walked past view of the camera.
“SNL” episodes typically end with the host, musical guest and cast remaining on stage for the entire credits to hug each other and chat. After the show, Wallen posted a photo of a plane on his Instagram story and wrote, “Get me to God’s country.”
He also made headlines last year after he was arrested and charged with throwing a chair off a balcony at Church’s rooftop bar in Nashville. He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and was sentenced to seven days in a DUI education center and two years of supervised probation.
And in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in May 2020 and a series of race-related incidents across America that year, Wallen became a focal point in Nashville’s controversial dealings with race in 2021.
In 2021, a video surfaced of him using a racist slur typically used to describe Black people in reference to another person he was with.
While his career briefly suffered from the incident, his music soared to the top of the charts.
Contributing: Brendan Morrow, David Oliver; Kirsten Fiscus, Nashville Tennessean
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