Saturday Night Live has turned to Nashville resident Jack White to replace Morgan Wallen as the musical guest on Oct. 10. Jack has performed as the musical guest on SNL three times (2002, 2012, 2018).
Morgan was bounced from the show on Oct. 7 after multiple videos surfaced of him ignoring social distancing protocols while in Tuscaloosa, Ala., over the weekend for the University of Alabama vs. Texas A&M football game. Morgan appeared in numerous TikTok videos that showed the 27-year-old partying at a bar, consuming alcohol, kissing women, performing at a house party and more—obviously, without a mask.
Morgan revealed the news in a video via Instagram on Oct. 7.
“It’s a tough video for me to make, but a necessary one,” said Morgan in the video, which was recorded in his hotel room in New York. “My actions this past weekend were pretty short-sighted, and they have obviously affected my long-term goals and my dreams. I respect the show’s decision because I know I put them in jeopardy, and I take ownership for this. I’d like to apologize to SNL, to my fans, to my team for bringing me these opportunities, and I let them down. And on a more personal note, I think I have some growing up to do. I think I’ve lost myself a little bit. ‘ve tried to find joy in the wrong places and, I don’t know, it’s left me with less joy, so I’m going to try to work on that. I’m going to take a step back from the spotlight for a little while and go work on myself. I wish I could have made country music and my fans proud this Saturday, but I respect the decision once again.”
Morgan noted that he has not tested positive for COVID and will take some time to “work on myself,” while revealing that SNL creator Lorne Michaels told him that the show would “find another time to make this up.”
In the past five years, a handful of country stars have performed on SNL, including Blake Shelton (January 2015), Zac Brown Band (March 2015), Chris Stapleton (January 2016, January 2018), Maren Morris (December 2016), Margo Price (April 2016), Sturgill Simpson (January 2017, January 2018), Kacey Musgraves (May 2018), Thomas Rhett (March 2019) and Luke Combs (February 2020).
