Morgan Wallen Is the Shane Gillis of ‘SNL’ Musical Guests

Shane Gillis isn’t the only entertainer to be invited to join Saturday Night Live, sent away in shame after ugly behavior came to light and then welcomed back with open arms shortly thereafter. That same description fits Morgan Wallen, a soon-to-be two-time musical guest on SNL (he’s back next week with host Mikey Madison) despite getting “fired” for being a bad boy.

If the COVID era is still a hazy memory, here’s a refresher: Wallen was scheduled to be the show’s musical guest in October of 2020, but a TikTok video blew up in all the wrong ways. The viral clip showed Wallen partying in Tuscaloosa, throwing back shots, making out with fans and not wearing a mask at a time when the rest of the country was in hardcore social-distancing lockdown. 

At a time when such behavior was still deemed outrageous, Lorne Michaels and SNL pulled the plug on Wallen’s appearance. “I got a call from the show letting me know that I will no longer be able to play, and that’s because of COVID protocols, which I understand,” the country star said in an Instagram apology video. “I respect the show’s decision because I know that I put them in jeopardy, and I take ownership for this.”

The cancellation couldn’t have been more temporary. Less than two months later, Wallen was rebooked as the show’s musical guest. And alongside host Jason Bateman, Wallen became a comedian when he participated in a sketch making fun of the incident.

Wallen plays Wallen, visited by future versions of himself played by Bowen Yang and Bateman. He’s partying in that Tuscaloosa bar when the Bateman version appears. “Once people hear about the party, you're in big trouble man,” Bateman/Wallen tells himself. “You’re going to get kicked off Saturday Night Live.” 

“Nah, nah, nah. Lorne would never do that,” says Real Wallen. 

Bateman/Wallen agrees, but it might not be Michaels’ decision. “Of course Lorne wouldn’t, he ain’t no puss. He’s the goddamn man, he’s got balls the size of Toyotas. The execs at NBC, they’re going to force his hand, bro.”

You can brush this off as kiss-ass tomfoolery on the part of SNL writers, but the sentiment isn’t too far off from Michaels’ version of what happened with Gillis. “He got beat up for things that he’d done years earlier, and the overreaction to it was so stunning,” Michaels told the Hollywood Reporter last fall, not bothering to recount Gillis’ racial and homophobic slurs. “The velocity of cancellation — and lots of people deserved to not be liked — it just became not quite the Reign of Terror, but it was like you’re judging everybody on every position they have on every issue.”

Translation: NBC made Lorne do it. And the first chance he got, he welcomed his bros Gillis and Wallen back into the fold. 

Twice.