Kenan Thompson says he thought Morgan Wallen’s exit from ‘SNL’ stage felt ‘abrupt’

(CNN) — Kenan Thompson is as confused as the rest of us about Morgan Wallen’s unusual exit from the “SNL” stage at the end of this weekend’s show.

Wallen, the musical guest on Saturday’s episode, confused some viewers when they noticed that the “Last Night” singer didn’t stay on stage during the show’s credits, as is tradition. After giving Oscar-winner and host Mikey Madison a hug, Wallen walked off the stage toward the side of the camera without acknowledging the other cast members.

“It just felt so abrupt,” Thompson told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published Monday. “And it was already such a small grouping on the stage anyway. So it was just like, oh wow, that was pretty visible.”

Thompson said that Wallen’s exit was not “the norm.” Usually, the cast and musical and guest stars stick around on stage to exchange hugs and congratulations.

After the show concluded, Wallen posted a photo of a plane on a runway with text across it that read, “get me to God’s country,” which caused speculation about his experience and spawned some amusing memes. It is not clear where he was flying.

CNN reached out to a representative for Wallen and “SNL” for comment about the incident.

Thompson described Wallen’s post-show statement on social media as “strange.”

He also questioned whether Wallen “understood the assignment or not, or if he was really feeling a certain kind of way.”

A source familiar with the situation said the country singer used the same path to enter and exit the studio as he had all week during rehearsals and simply walked that same way after hugging Madison.

Thompson had his own speculative explanation for why Wallen bucked tradition and left the stage in a hurry.

“I thought maybe he had to go to the potty or something,” he joked.

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