For every knockout Saturday Night Live moment, there are also some SNL sketches that did not go according to plan, as well as many musical performances at Studio 8H that are memorable for the wrong reasons. Not to mention, in addition to the unexpected occurrences from the classic sketch comedy series, some bits played out just as they were intended but managed to offend and infuriate some audiences. We'll cover them all in this exploration of SNL's most infamous moments.
Adrien Brody's Jamaican-Accented Sean Paul Introduction (Season 28)
Fresh off his Oscar win for The Pianist, Adrien Brody graced the stage at Studio 8H with musical guest Sean Paul, whom he chose to introduce in his own unauthorized and culturally insensitive way. He donned dreads, a Rastafarian wrist cuff, and an uproarious accent reminiscent of the Jamaican rapper's native country which is, reportedly, the reason he has never been asked to return to the show since.
Paul Shaffer Drops The F-Bomb (Season 5)
Before becoming David Letterman's band leader, Paul Shaffer was a member of Studio 8H's house band and went to become a cast member, during which he made SNL history in a foul way on the series' 100th episode. In a sketch about a group of medieval musicians who repeatedly use the word "flogging," Shaffer, when scolding Bill Murray's drummer about his rhythm pattern, accidentally used the real curse word, becoming the first to ever drop that bomb live on the show.
Buck Henry Gets Slashed In The Face (Season 2)
John Belushi's Samurai character is infamous for a few reasons these days but one moment that was shocking from the start occurred during "Samurai Stockbroker" with Buck Henry. Belushi, who insisted on using a real sword when playing the recurring character, accidentally hit the host in the forehead while using it to bust a hole in a wall, prompting the cast to wear bandages on their faces in solidarity with Henry.
Ashlee Simpson Is Caught Lip-Synching (Season 30)
In her SNL debut, Ashlee Simpson performed "Pieces of Me" without a hitch but, at the start of her second performance, the same song's vocals began playing before she brought her microphone to her mouth. She then tried to remedy the situation with, as she described during the outro, "a hoedown" before sheepishly walking off stage. At least she was invited back one more time the following year.
Damon Wayans Changes His Character Mid-Sketch (Season 11)
Known better for the In Living Color cast, Damon Wayans' time on SNL is largely forgotten, partly because he did not even last a full season. He was fired after giving his police officer role in a "Mr. Monopoly" sketch a flamboyant characterization without permission.
Chevy Chase And Richard Pryor's Word Association (Season 1)
While Richard Pryor only appeared on one episode, he is considered one of the all-time best SNL hosts, with some credit due to his involvement in one of the show's edgiest sketches. He plays a job applicant given a word association test by the interviewer (Chevy Chase) that erupts into a barrage of racial slurs, concluding when Pryor threatens Chase over using the N-word.
Sinéad O'Connor Rips Up The Pope's Photo (Season 18)
No celebrity has made a more controversial statement on SNL than Sinéad O'Connor at the end of her acapella rendition of Bob Marley's "War" when, as she sang the word "evil," she held up a picture of Pope John Paul II, proceeded to tear it to pieces, and shouted, "Fight the real enemy!" The act prompted complaints from the Catholic Church, was mocked by the following week's host, Joe Pesci, and sparked a rough patch in the career of the late Irish singer-songwriter who, needless to say, was never asked back.
Steven Seagal's Episode (Season 16)
Lorne Michaels has claimed that none of the people reportedly banned from SNL truly have no chance at returning but one celebrity we can confidently assume will never be brought back is Steven Seagal. The action star's rude backstage behavior and questionable acting choices during his sole hosting gig have been widely discussed by Studio 8H veterans who were there. It was even acknowledged when Nicolas Cage hosted the following year and, in a monologue bit, assumes the cast think he is "the biggest jerk who has ever been on the show" and Michaels assures he is not before namedropping Seagal.
Djesus Uncrossed (Season 38)
One of SNL's funniest fake movie trailers was not considered very funny by some religious audiences. The bit in question was called "Djesus Uncrossed," which imagines a dramatization of Jesus Christ's resurrection as a bloody revenge thriller from Quentin Tarantino starring Oscar winner Christoph Waltz as the gun-toting Son of Man.
Fred Armisen's Poking Fun At David Paterson's Blindness (Season 34-38)
Fred Armisen's repeated appearances on Weekend Update as New York's then-governor David Paterson frequently referenced him being a legal non-seeing person. The politician would eventually show up with him at the Update desk to show he had a good sense of humor about it but did not shy away from calling Armisen's imitation "sophomoric and stupid."
Jimmy Fallon's Chris Rock Impersonation (Season 25)
The world knew better about white actors performing in blackface in the year 2000 but that did not stop SNL from having Jimmy Fallon play former cast member Chris Rock for a sketch that year. The bit resurfaced two decades later and, while Rock clarified that he was never hurt by the imitation, Fallon would devote an entire episode of The Tonight Show to apologize for what he also referred to on Twitter as an "unquestionably offensive decision."
First He Cries (Season 5)
Written by Al Franken and Tom Davis, "First He Cries" is SNL's parody of Betty Rollin’s autobiography about her mastectomy, Then, You Cry, told from the perspective of her husband (played by Bill Murray), who is now disappointed by her lack of "assets." While intended to be a satire on shallow men and despite Rollin's positive reception to it, the bit was taken at face value and deemed offensively juvenile, causing host Bea Arthur to catch flack for even appearing in it.
An Awkward Fake Safelite Auto Glass Ad (Season 43)
In a fake ad for Safelite Auto Glass, Beck Bennett plays a car windshield replacement technician who repeatedly breaks a woman's (Aidy Bryant) windshield as an excuse to creep on her teenage daughter (Melissa Villaseñor). The actual company took to Twitter to express that they were not happy with the bit, feeling it went "too far."
Two Sketches About Teachers On Trial For Seducing Students (Seasons 40-41)
In 2015, SNL aired a sketch about a teacher (Cecily Strong) going to court for sleeping with a student (Pete Davidson) who cannot help but proudly boast about the experience while at the stand. The following season, they recreated the sketch but with Strong and host Rhonda Rousey playing two teachers who seduced Davidson's teen. Why no one at Studio 8H feared this might bother some abuse victims is beyond us.
Dave Chappelle's Third SNL Monologue (Season 48)
Following two successful SNL hosting gigs, comedian Dave Chappelle's return was already garnering controversy for recent comments in his stand-up deemed insensitive to the transgender community. Instead of addressing that issue in his monologue, he discussed anti-semitic rhetoric by Black celebrities like Kanye West before going in a direction that implied the Jewish community was a driving force of so-called "cancel culture." The Anti-Defamation League and other organizations protested the seemingly conspiratorial set.
Nude Beach Sketch (Season 14)
Following the FCC's loosening restriction on certain words, then-SNL writer Conan O'Brien decided to put that to the test by writing a sketch set at a nude beach. The bit, starring host Matthew Broderick, saw male beachgoers acknowledge each other's reproductive organs and use their proper name enough times to inspire thousands of letters complaining that a late-night television show would attempt such a thing.
Dana Carvey As Ching Chang (Seasons 12-26)
Dana Carvey is the face behind many of SNL's most beloved recurring characters but Ching Chang is certainly not one of them. His repeated appearances as the grossly stereotypical Asian man, as late as when he hosted in 2000, have certainly not aged well, to say the least.
Pete Davidson Makes Fun Of Dan Crenshaw (Season 44)
After poking fun at congressional candidate and former Navy Seal Dan Crenshaw for wearing an eyepatch (due to him losing an eye in Afghanistan) during a "Weekend Update" bit, Pete Davidson received death threats. Luckily, Crenshaw himself would smooth things over by appearing on the segment with Davidson the following week.
Canteen Boy And The Scoutmaster (Season 19)
While Adam Sandler's recurring character Canteen Boy is not a child but a childish assistant scout leader, many audiences were angered by a sketch in which he is abused by a Scoutmaster played by Alec Baldwin. The Five-Timers Club member would address the controversy the next time he hosted in his monologue, for which Sandler appeared to help retcon the events of the sketch, painting Canteen Boy as a consenting adult attracted to men and women.
Wayne And Garth Mock Chelsea Clinton (Season 18)
In a cold open featuring "Wayne's World" duo, Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth (Dana Carvey) make comments about the recently elected Bill Clinton's then-12-year-old daughter, Chelsea, saying adolescence has not been kind to her but that she could be a "babe in waiting." The First Family was not happy, prompting Myers to write a personal apology and Lorne Michaels to issue a public one. The jokes regarding Chelsea Clinton have since been edited out of future airings and any clips of the sketch found online.
Conspiracy Theory Rock (Season 23)
While only one Robert Smigel's "Saturday TV Funhouse" shorts was rejected (with influence from Barack Obama), there is one that only aired only once, by order of Lorne Michaels future NBC president Rick Ludwin of General Electric. GE was actually one of many entities targeted in "Conspiracy Theory Rock" – a Schoolhouse Rock parody shedding light on corporate censorship.
Dwayne Johnson's Evil Invention (Season 42)
On his fifth episode as a host, Dwayne Jonnson starred in a sketch as a mad scientist who tries to win a contest for the most evil creation by developing a robot that molests children. Unsurprisingly, audiences were not happy with the sketch, believing it trivialized abuse yet we are surprised there was no reported backlash from White Castle, which the sketch was revealed to be a fake ad for at the very end.
Patti Smith Sings "Gloria" On Easter (Season 1)
With all due respect to Patti Smith, SNL could have picked a better choice for its first Easter weekend show. The day for celebrating the resurrection had literally just begun before the punk rocker's performance of "Gloria," which opens with the lyric, “Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine." The fact that the episode was hosted by Ron Nessen, White House press secretary for Republican president Gerald Ford, promised a largely conservative audience, making things especially dicey.
Buck Henry As Uncle Roy (Seasons 4-5)
Buck Henry made three appearances on SNL as a 45-year-old man named Roy, whose inappropriate leering around the young girls he is hired to look after made viewers uncomfortable. However, the creators of the sketch, producer Rosie Shuster and writer Anne Beatts, came to its defense for its implied condemnation of such behavior.
Rage Against The Machine's Set Is Cut Short (Season 21)
Rap-rock outfit Rage Against the Machine, known for their staunch political activism, appeared on one SNL episode, on which they only performed one song: "Bulls on Parade." That is because they planned to protest that night's host, Republican presidential hopeful Steve Forbes, by hanging upside-down flags on the stage. The flags were torn down before they went on and they were asked to leave the studio shortly after.
Samuel L. Jackson Drops The F-Bomb (Season 38)
F-bombs have been dropped a lot more frequently than some may realize and one even occurred as recently as 2012 when Samuel L. Jackson (an actor well-known for his cursing) appeared on an edition of “What Up With That?” Apparently, Kenan Thompson was supposed to interrupt his Snakes on a Plane co-star but intervened a little too late.
ISIS On Shark Tank (Season 40)
In a parody of the hit reality TV show, Shark Tank, host Chris Rock and cast member Kyle Mooney played members of ISIS who pitch their plans to the famous investors. Real-life Shark Daymond John found the sketch insensitive but did appreciate that he (played by Kenan Thompson) got to be the one who has the terrorist organization captured.
Nirvana Make Out During The End Credits (Season 17)
At the end of an episode hosted by Rob Morrow, Nirvana members Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl took turns kissing each other in front of the camera. This would be nothing to bat an eye out over today but early-'90s era NBC execs decided to censor it for later airings and Peacock even uses footage from the dress rehearsal instead.
The Claudine Longet Invitational (Season 1)
In SNL's premiere season, there was a sketch featuring clips of skiers falling over, accompanied by gunshots, and the voices of Chevy Chase and Jane Curtin as commentators announcing the athletes were shot by Claudine Longet. This was a reference to the actor and singer fatally shooting her boyfriend, Olympic skier Vladimir "Spider" Sabich. Longet's supportive ex-husband, Andy Williams, threatened to sue NBC over the bit.
Nancy Pelosi And Barney Frank On The Financial Bailout (Season 34)
When it first aired, a sketch starring Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen as Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank discussing the Financial Bailout featured an appearance by Darrell Hammond and Casey Wilson as Herb and Marion Sandler, the real-life former owners of Oakland’s Golden West Financial. The sketch labeled them as “people who should be shot,” in reference to accusations of predatory lending that brought down Wachovia Bank, despite no charges getting filed. The Sandlers never sought legal action but NBC's lawyers took out the clip on their own, feeling it did not meet the network's standards.
Christina Ricci Punches Ana Gasteyer In The Face (Season 25)
A moment that actually received no controversy because it was kept hidden for so long occurred in a sketch starring Ana Gasteyer as talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael and host Christina Ricci. In 2016, the Happiest Season cast member revealed on Jenny McCarthy’s Sirius XM show that, after drinking an adult beverage to calm her nerves, Ricci accidentally punched Gasteyer right in the nose for real.
Kanye West's Political Soap Box (Season 44)
During a final performance at the very end of an episode hosted by Adam Driver, a MAGA hat-wearing Kanye West went on a rant about his political views. The tirade caused many audience members and cast members to grow uncomfortable and walk out and the rapper would soon become a frequent SNL punchline.
