Country music star Morgan Wallen’s Instagram post after his abrupt departure from the “Saturday Night Live” stage has become a social media punchline.
As the credits rolled Saturday, Wallen hugged host Mikey Madison briefly before leaving the stage. As the musical guest, he was expected to stay on stage with the rest of the crew, waving to the audience and saying goodbye to the cast.
While Wallen hasn’t explained his Irish exit publicly, some have speculated it was due to his already-fraught relationship with the show.
But it was his Instagram post showing his private plane shortly after he left the show that the internet latched onto.
“Get me to God’s Country,” the viral post read.
Will TikTok get banned? Trump says deal to come before Saturday deadline.
‘Get me to God’s Country’ becomes internet trend
People on social media took to making a joke out of his words, sharing their own pictures with the caption.
Blockbuster, Chili’s, the Roku screen saver, Costco, and the Rainforest Cafe are all considered “God’s country” according to pictures on X as users take part in the trend.
The Empire State Building’s X account shot back at the insinuation New York is not “God’s country” with its own post of the view from the historic skyscraper, with, you guessed it, “Get me to God’s country” as the caption.
TikTok users also posted the caption over videos of The Eras Tour, Buc-ees and Barnes & Noble, to name a few.
Morgan Wallen jumps on trend with merch
Wallen may be quiet as to why he left the show early, but he is hopping on the trend in his own way.
He is selling hats in two colors and a tee-shirt that reads “Get me to God’s country” for $45 each. He shared the merch on a Tuesday night Instagram story.
Wallen is one of the most popular country music singers today. In 2020, his scheduled appearance on “SNL” was canceled after Wallen was photographed partying maskless during the pandemic. He made it back to the show by the end of the year and starred in a sketch making fun of the incident.
But he has also been in hot water since then. In 2021, Big Loud Records said it suspended Wallen’s contract over a video of him drunkenly shouting a racial slur, an incident for which he has since apologized. In 2024, Wallen also pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment for throwing a chair off the roof of a bar.
Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, Haadiza Ogwude, Brendan Morrow, Anna Kaufman
Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
