In honor of SNL‘s 50 years on air, here are 21 of the most wild and occasionally controversial things that have ever happened live on the show:
Note: Some of the following moments have been suggested by and commented on by members of the BuzzFeed Community.
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1. When Sinéad O’Connor ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II during her performance of Bob Marley’s “War”:
NBC / Via youtube.com
—karas4e071572a
2. When Adrien Brody decided to improvise his introduction of musical guest Sean Paul by wearing dreadlocks, speaking in patois, and spewing a bunch of Jamaican stereotypes:
Click to reveal
NBC
—Cheersavl
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3. When Ashlee Simpson got caught lip-syncing during her performance of “Autobiography,” did a very awkward dance, and ran offstage:
NBC / Via youtube.com
“Instead of ‘Autobiography,’ her prerecorded track of ‘Pieces of Me’ started playing. She didn’t know what to do, so she did this awkward dance and walked offstage before the show cut to a commercial.”
—chelseasometimes23
4. When Kristen Stewart hosted and accidentally dropped the f-bomb in her monologue:
NBC
—Kevin Dix
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5. When David Bowie performed “Boys Keep Swinging” and included a little phallic surprise at the very end that SNL‘s censorer didn’t catch in time:
NBC / Via reddit.com
As it was 1979, SNL was already prepared to censor the performance, particularly for the line “other boys check you out.” Likely knowing this, Bowie and his team prepared a surprise. For the performance, Bowie’s head appeared atop a marionette doll, which danced around to the song. As the song came to an end, a party horn — y’know, those paper, whistle-like things you used to blow on at birthday parties or on New Year’s that would unfurl and make a honking sound — shot out of the marionette’s pants in a particularly phallic manner. SNL‘s team didn’t catch it quick enough to edit it out live, nor did they choose to edit it from re-runs.
6. When Martin Lawrence went off script during his monologue, sharing his personal experiences and opinion on women’s hygiene and genitals:
NBC / Via youtube.com
—murrays3
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Because of network policy, this part of the monologue has been edited out of reruns of the episode since it originally aired in 1994. Instead, the following graphics are displayed explaining what occurred and calling it a “frank and lively presentation” that “nearly cost us all our jobs.” You can view the video on YouTube or read the transcript from the original monologue here.
NBC / Via youtube.com
—matthewschonmorgan
7. When Buck Henry hosted an entire episode of SNL with a bandaged head because John Belushi accidentally cut him with a sword during a “Samurai Stockbroker” sketch:
NBC / Via nbc.com
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You can enjoy the whole sketch on NBC.com or watch the moment where it all goes wrong below:
8. When Rage Against the Machine tried to perform with upside-down American flags hanging from their amps and were escorted out of the building immediately after their first song:
NBC
“The upside-down flags were meant to be a protest of the show’s host that week: then–presidential candidate Steve Forbes. The crew removed the flags before the show went live, but the band was not invited back in to perform a second song or seen onstage for the goodbyes at the end of the show.”
—miss_meggin
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9. When SNL executive producer Dick Ebersol had the audience vote on whether or not they should keep Andy Kaufman on the show…and fans voted him out 195,544 to 169,186:
NBC / Via nbc.com
“Kaufman’s early appearances on the first couple of seasons of SNL left people wondering what planet he was from.”
—Brian B.
10. When Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor did a “Word Association” job interview sketch in which both their characters said racial slurs back and forth, including Chase saying the n-word:
NBC / Via youtube.com
“Chase and Pryor notoriously didn’t care for each other IRL, either, and it shows.”
—angelusgirl
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11. When Mike Myers and Dana Carvey made a joke about the appearance of Bill Clinton’s daughter — Chelsea Clinton — in a “Wayne’s World” sketch, which was edited out of the segment after airing and does not appear online or in reruns.
NBC / Via youtube.com
While Wayne and Garth are listing the top ten things they like about Bill Clinton, you might notice in the clip on SNL‘s official YouTube page that it skips from #3 straight to #1. That would be, because #2 is about Chelsea. According to Cracked, Wayne says, “adolescence has been thus far unkind” to then-12-year-old Chelsea, then goes on to note that he thinks she’s “going to be a future fox.”
Hillary Clinton commented on the joke in a Redbook interview, saying, “I think it’s sad that people don’t have anything better to do than be mean to a child… I’m going to do everything I can to help Chelsea be strong enough not to let what other people say about her affect her.” Bill Clinton added on in a People interview, saying he didn’t mind jokes about him on the show, “…but I think you gotta be pretty insensitive to make fun of an adolescent child.”
Mike Meyers reportedly wrote a personal letter apologizing to Chelsea and her parents, and Lorne Michaels himself issued a public apology.
12. When James Franco accidentally squirted fake blood straight into Leslie Jones’s mouth during the “Gift Wrap” sketch:
NBC / Via youtube.com
“Jones spent the entire skit trying not to throw up. 😂”
—shelleynicole
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13. When Fear caused a bit of a riot during their performance and were cut off mid-song with a commercial break for ~fear~ that they’d seriously damage the equipment:
NBC / Via youtube.com
“Fear hosted the Halloween episode in 1981 thanks to the help of cast member John Belushi getting them in the door at 30 Rock. They performed offensive songs — including the anti-New York song ‘New York’s Alright If You Like Saxophones’; had a mosh pit that destroyed the set; and continuously used vulgar language. Concerned they’d destroy the equipment in the studio, the crew cut to a commercial when they began playing ‘Let’s Have a War.'”
—Evelina Zaragoza Medina
14. When Charles Rocket dropped the f-bomb during a sketch, resulting in him getting fired in the middle of the season:
NBC / Via youtube.com
“The show was already in limbo, and that mistake cost half the jobs on the show, including Rocket’s. SNL would’ve tanked entirely were it not for Eddie Murphy.”
—colleend9
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15. When both the stage and the audience went uncomfortably silent after the n-word was dropped in this “Commie Hunting Season” sketch:
NBC / Via youtube.com
For reference, this sketch aired in 1980, during the show’s sixth season. The whole thing is a hard watch and definitely never should’ve made it to air. Still, you can watch it on YouTube, as SNL has uploaded it to their official account.
16. When Elvis Costello stopped playing “Less Than Zero” 15 seconds into the song and performed “Radio, Radio” — a song that NBC had objected to — instead:
NBC / Via youtube.com
“He was then banned from appearing on SNL until he made his triumphant return playing the same song backed by the Beastie Boys years later! THAT was punk rock in its purest meaning.”
—Brian B.
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17. When Kanye West went on an unexpected pro-Trump rant at the end of the episode he appeared on and was ultimately cut off:
NBC / Via youtube.com
“In 2018, he wore a MAGA hat and talked about his public support of Trump while the audience booed and cast members — including host Adam Driver — were visibly irritated in the background. While his whole speech didn’t air on TV, you can get a quick refresher of what was said and shared by Chris Rock — who’d been in the show’s audience that night — on Instagram here.”
—swifty_girl
18. When Alec Baldwin and Adam Sandler starred in this “Canteen Boy and the Scoutmaster” sketch, in which Alec played a scoutmaster who repeatedly made inappropriate sexual advances on a boy scout in his troop, prompting massive backlash and a response from the Boy Scouts of America:
NBC / Via youtube.com
In a Chicago Sun-Times article, a Boy Scouts of America representative said, “We see nothing funny about child molestation, and are surprised that this unfunny subject would be selected for a comedy sketch.”
Washington Post reports that the clip appears in re-airings with a title card saying the sketch “is based on actual events” and Canteen Boy is “a highly intelligent though quite eccentric 27-year-old who still lives with his mother, and who, despite his age, remains active in scouting,” as was canonized in previous Canteen Boy sketches.
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19. When Jenny Slate made a splash in her very first episode by accidentally dropping an f-bomb:
NBC / Via youtube.com
“It was rumored for a while that the slip-up during the ‘Biker Chick Chat’ was what got her fired from the show, but Slate explained that it was because she wasn’t a good fit. It’s good to see she’s doing a lot more for herself now.”
—ursulabuffay
20. When Fred Armisen did an impression of then-New York governor David Paterson on “Weekend Update” that essentially made fun of him for being blind:
NBC / Via youtube.com
During the segment, Armisen squinted and was unable to do basic tasks, seemingly due to his inability to see. According to the New York Times, the governor’s office issued a statement about the impression, saying “this particular Saturday Night Live skit, unfortunately, chose to ridicule people with physical disabilities and imply that disabled people are incapable of having jobs with serious responsibilities.”
The former governor eventually appeared on “Weekend Update” to address the sketch.
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21. And finally, when Cypress Hill started their performance of “I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That” by smoking a joint live on air:
NBC / Via Facebook: video.php
Not only did DJ Muggs smoke weed on national TV, but the band also trashed their instruments at the end of their performance. Safe to say, it wasn’t a huge surprise when Lorne Michaels didn’t welcome them back on the show.
