Banned from New York: The most notorious “SNL” incidents

The original cast members of “Saturday Night Live” were known for their wild party spirit. How did a musical guest end up getting fired for partying? Well, partying at a bar in Alabama during the COVID-19 pandemic and not wearing a mask isn’t exactly comfortable for many people. Given the country singer’s risky behavior, “SNL” decided to cancel his performance.

It’s arguably one of the most famous quotes in “SNL” history, and it didn’t come from a skit. No, during a performance of Bob Marley’s song “War,” O’Connor pulled out a picture of the Pope and shouted as she ripped it to pieces, “Fight the real enemy!” Of course, today we have a horrifying picture of the kind of problems within the Catholic Church that O’Connor railed against. She was a despised figure at the time, and was even mocked several times on “Saturday Night Live” in the years that followed.

Only one person has ever walked out during a performance on Saturday Night Live, and oddly enough, it was Simpson. The reason? A playback error. Personally, I find the idea of ​​someone being outraged by a pop musician singing playback during a performance, especially on a show like SNL, odd. However, when the wrong song was played when Simpson was supposed to perform, she danced awkwardly and then walked off the stage.

Kaufman’s whole thing was to stir up controversy and keep you in the dark about what was real and what was fake. He certainly did that on another sketch comedy show, “Fridays.” However, he also brought his thing to “Saturday Night Live.” In one particular episode, Kaufman asked viewers to vote on whether or not he should be kicked off the show. In the end, “Dump Andy” beat “Keep Andy” and Kaufman was kicked off “SNL” at his behest.

John Belushi was a fan of the Los Angeles punk band Fear and loved the show so much that in 1981 he agreed to appear on Saturday Night Live if they could be the musical guests. The show agreed, although the band brought slam dancers. Fear and their fans caused thousands of dollars in damage and their performance was canceled.

Although Andrew Dice Clay’s famous performance was in character, the crass nature of his routine, peppered with sexist jokes, was definitely not for everyone. When the Dice Man was invited to host, cast member Nora Dunn stated that she would not be participating in the episode in protest of Clay’s stand-up. Although some hecklers were reportedly removed from the audience, Clay hosted the Dunn-free episode without much incident.

We didn’t want to do a piece that was all about banned hosts and people swearing, but both had to be included. In 1981, cast member Rocket was the first person to say the F-word on the show. Unlike other statements, it didn’t feel like Rocket did it by accident. He didn’t stay on the show much longer.

What was Saturday Night Live thinking when they invited the openly politically engaged Rage Against the Machine as their musical guest while billionaire presidential candidate Steve Forbes served as host? As is their custom, Rage hung upside-down American flags before their performance, traditionally a sign of distress. The flags were quickly taken down and Rage Against the Machine were asked to leave before they even performed a second song.

Apparently Lawrence did not discuss his material with the folks at “SNL” before beginning his monologue as host. He went into heavy detail and made references to genitalia and feminine hygiene in a way that was apparently extremely graphic. Not only was Lawrence banned from the show, but his name was not even allowed to be mentioned on the show for years.

The Replacements were a talented band, but also notorious for their sloppy, drunken live shows. Apparently they didn’t want to break with tradition on Saturday Night Live. The band was obviously completely drunk during their first song and then changed clothes before their second drunken performance of the night. This level of unprofessionalism was punished with a ban.

It’s a bizarre, logical number, if only because it was so crazy in the moment. Brody decided to go off script when introducing musician Sean Paul. The problem? That involved him wearing a dreadlock wig and speaking with a thick Jamaican accent. Needless to say, he hasn’t been back since.

When does Kanye not cause controversy? In 2018, West ended an episode by performing in a “Make America Great Again” hat that he wasn’t supposed to be wearing. The show ended during his performance, but afterward he began cursing at the audience while the cast stood uncomfortably in the wings. Kenan Thompson compared it to being held hostage.

Since she’s become famous since then, and it hadn’t happened in a while, Slate’s utterance of the F-word in her very first episode in the cast garnered a lot of attention. This was also the first use of the word in the age of social media. To be fair, the sketch did call for her to say “frickin” over and over again. That’s a mistake anyone could have made.

Two strange things happened on the December 17, 1977 episode of “SNL.” First, it was hosted by Miskel Spillman, an 80-year-old German immigrant who had won an “Anyone Can Host” contest. Second, musician Elvis Costello decided to make a change both on the show and with his record label. Costello had been asked to sing the song “Less Than Zero,” but after he started, his band stopped, apologized, and started playing “Radio, Radio.” Although he got in trouble for doing so at the time, cooler heads prevailed and Costello parodied it during the show’s 25th anniversary special.

Hundreds of hosts have passed through the studio of Saturday Night Live, so when Lorne Michaels says you’re the worst host ever, that’s saying something. That’s the “honor” he bestowed on Seagal, who was apparently impossible to work with. Let’s just say we’re not surprised. Michaels even attacked Seagal on a later episode hosted by Nicolas Cage.

MacDonald was never afraid to stir up emotions. After the OJ Simpson verdict, he declared that “murder is now legal in California.” The Canadian comedian has wondered if these jokes ultimately led to his dismissal. What didn’t, however, was that he became the first person since Rocket to use that particular taboo word, responding to his own coughing fit with “What the hell was that?”

Whether you’re a fan of Zappa or not, you can probably imagine him smugly going through his hosting of “SNL,” right? That’s exactly what happened. Zappa wouldn’t stop making faces for the camera and even told the audience he was just reading from cue cards. He was probably having a good time, but certainly no one else on the show seemed to be having fun.

For most people, joining the cast of Saturday Night Live is a big deal, and for Shane Gillis, it would have been hugely significant. The problem? The internet has a long memory. After the announcement that Gillis was being hired, some clips showed Gillis making racist remarks about Asians. This led to Gillis being removed from the cast before he made his debut.

Kinison, never a shy violet, managed to cut two different jokes from his episode as host for the West Coast feed. During rehearsals, he had made a joke about the crucifixion that he wasn’t supposed to tell. He didn’t listen. Additionally, he surprised everyone with a marijuana joke that he hadn’t made in rehearsal. This was a different time, so the fact that his joke wasn’t negative meant that it violated NBC’s guidelines.

Maybe we should have ended with a more entertaining example, but this is perhaps Saturday Night Live at its most controversial. In a truly egregious attempt to gain ratings, Lorne invited Michael Trump to host when he was running for president prior to the 2016 election. Despite his numerous personality issues, his vile comments during the campaign, and also his complete lack of talent as a performer, the show decided to let him stay and use their show to boost his notoriety. Plus, he only appeared for 12 minutes in the episode anyway. What a tremendous waste of everyone’s time. Hey, at least Lorne boosted his ratings.