Country star now monetizing the controversy by selling shirts and hats with his instantly meme’d phrase
Morgan Wallen has managed to merchandise his abrupt and awkward Saturday Night Live exit, releasing a line of clothing with the phrase “Get me to God’s country.”
On Tuesday — less than 48 hours after the country star walked off the SNL stage during the traditional goodbyes, rushed to an airport, and posted on social media before boarding a private plane to “God’s country” — Wallen’s webstore offered pre-orders for hats and shirts bearing the instantly meme’d phrase, each bearing a $45 price tag.
Wallen has so far been mum about the viral incident, although both his reps and NBC sources have downplayed any animosity behind the quick SNL exit. (Wallen did reportedly “refuse” to appear in a musical sketch, with Joe Jonas recruited to fill in for him.)
However, Kenan Thompson said Wallen’s departure during the goodbyes appeared “so abrupt” to those onstage. “It was already such a small grouping on the stage anyway. So it was just like, oh wow, that was pretty visible,” Thompson said in an interview earlier this week. “You know what I’m saying? It was a pretty visible thing.”
Thompson — SNL’s longest-serving cast member — also likened the Wallen exit to when Prince served as musical guest and didn’t fraternize with the cast during the episode’s send-off. “Prince did the same thing. I’m not saying Morgan Wallen is Prince, but we weren’t surprised because Prince was notoriously kind of standoffish,” Thompson said. “It’s just how he was. So we just thought like, ‘OK, now he’s gone back into fantasyland.’”
