As a
live sketch comedy show,
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
'' (officially abbreviated to ''SNL'') has had a number of technical problems, performer mishaps, and controversial content. Several hosts and musical guests have received negative press due to their appearances on the program, including musician
Sinéad O'Connor, comedian
Andrew Dice Clay
Andrew Dice Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein; September 29, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He rose to prominence in the late 1980s with a brash, deliberately offensive persona known as "The Diceman". In 1990, he became the fi ...
, then-Presidential candidate
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
, and the bands
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commer ...
and
Fear
Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...
. In the course of the show's forty-plus-year history, several technical issues have occurred live on air, most notably with singer
Ashlee Simpson
Ashley Nicolle Ross ( Simpson; born October 3, 1984), known professionally as Ashlee Simpson, is an American singer and actress. The younger sister of singer and actress Jessica Simpson, she began her career as a back-up dancer for her sister ...
. Other times, controversial content has been edited out of syndicated reruns and online-distributed editions of the show, including coarse language. The show has "banned" certain hosts and has also been accused of plagiarism.
Technical issues
Ashlee Simpson
Singer and actress
Ashlee Simpson
Ashley Nicolle Ross ( Simpson; born October 3, 1984), known professionally as Ashlee Simpson, is an American singer and actress. The younger sister of singer and actress Jessica Simpson, she began her career as a back-up dancer for her sister ...
appeared as a musical guest on the October 23, 2004 episode with
Jude Law as host. Her first performance, "
Pieces of Me", was performed without incident, but when she began her second song, "
Autobiography", the vocals for "Pieces of Me" were heard again — before she had even raised the microphone to her mouth. Simpson began to do an impromptu jig, and then left the stage.
During the closing of the show, Simpson appeared with Law and said: "I feel so bad. My band started playing the wrong song. I didn't know what to do so I thought I'd do a
hoedown
A hoedown is a type of American folk dance or square dance in duple meter, and also the musical form associated with it.
Overview
The most popular sense of the term is associated with Americans in rural or southeastern parts of the country, par ...
."
On October 25, Simpson explained that due to complications arising from severe
acid reflux
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is one of the upper gastrointestinal chronic diseases where stomach content persistently and regularly flows up into the esophagus, resulting in symptoms and/ ...
disease, she had completely lost her voice and her doctor had advised her not to sing. Her father wanted her to use a vocal guide track for the performance after she had suffered vocal issues during rehearsals.
Simpson stated of the incident, "I made a complete fool of myself." According to Simpson, the drummer hit the wrong button, which caused the wrong track to be played.
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...
had been unaware of the plan to use
lip synching
Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals.
Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...
, and said in an interview with ''
60 Minutes'' that he would not have allowed it if he had been consulted.
Simpson is the only musical guest ever to walk off stage during a live performance at SNL.
Simpson returned to the show on October 8, 2005, and performed without incident.
Controversies
Fear
In 1981, director
Penelope Spheeris
Penelope Spheeris (born December 2, 1945 or 1946; sources differ) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. She has directed both documentary and scripted films. Her best-known works include the trilogy titled '' The Decline of ...
made a film titled ''
The Decline of Western Civilization
''The Decline of Western Civilization'' is a 1981 American documentary filmed through 1979 and 1980. The movie is about the Los Angeles punk rock scene and was directed by Penelope Spheeris. In 1981, the LAPD Chief of Police Daryl Gates wrote a ...
''; the film featured an appearance by the punk rock group
Fear
Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...
. This appearance in particular caught the attention of former cast member
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Throughout his c ...
, who lobbied successfully to get the band a spot as a musical guest on the 1981 Halloween episode of ''SNL''.
Belushi had originally offered Fear the soundtrack for his major motion picture ''
Neighbors''. The film's producers eventually forced Fear off the project, and Belushi got them the infamous ''SNL'' gig as compensation. The band's appearance included a group of
slamdancers, among them Belushi,
Ian MacKaye
Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye (; born April 16, 1962) is an American musician. Active since 1979, he is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label and the frontman of hardcore punk ...
of
Minor Threat
Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C. by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Brian Baker and guitar ...
(and later
Fugazi),
Tesco Vee
Tesco Vee (born Robert Vermeulen; August 26, 1955) is an American, Michigan-based punk rock musician, and co-founder of Touch and Go Records zine. Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, he is a former elementary school teacher and the founding member, an ...
of
The Meatmen
The Meatmen are an American punk band headed by Tesco Vee, originally existing from 1981 to 1988, before reforming in the mid-1990s, and again in the 2000s. They were known for their outrageous stage antics and offensive lyrics. They reformed ...
,
Harley Flanagan
Harley Francis Flanagan (born March 8, 1967) is an American musician. He is the founder of New York hardcore band Cro-Mags.
At age 12, Flanagan was the drummer for New York punk band the Stimulators. When he was nine years old, Flanagan publish ...
and
John Joseph of the
Cro-Mags
Cro-Mags are an American hardcore punk band from New York City. The band, which has a strong cult following, has released six studio albums, with the first two considered the most influential. With a Hare Krishna background, they were among t ...
, and
John Brannon of
Negative Approach
Negative Approach is an American hardcore punk band, formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1981. The band is considered among the pioneers of hardcore punk, particularly in the Midwest region. Like most hardcore bands, Negative Approach was little known ...
. The show's director originally wanted to prevent the dancers from participating, so Belushi offered to be in the episode if the dancers were allowed to stay.
The result was the shortening of Fear's appearance on TV. Frontman
Lee Ving
Lee James Jude Capallero (born April 10, 1950), also known as Lee Ving, is an American guitarist, singer and actor.
Ving is the frontman of the Los Angeles-based hardcore punk band Fear. As an actor, Ving played topless club owner Johnny C. ...
started the band's second song by stating, "It's great to be in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
", drawing boos from ''SNL''s New York live audience. Fear played "I Don't Care About You", "Beef Bologna", "New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones", and started to play "Let's Have a War" when the telecast faded into commercial. The slamdancers left ripe pumpkin remains on the set. Cameras, a piano, and other property were damaged in a situation that was close to a stage riot.
After their ''SNL'' appearance, which resulted in $20,000 in damage,
some clubs chose not to hire the band. A ''New York Post'' article later reported the figure to be $500,000. This is believed to have originated from Ving, who told the Post that "...we caused $500,000 worth of damage, a cool half a million dollars worth of damage, ‘cause we’re professionals, and I counted the damage myself." Since this incident, Fear has not appeared on ''Saturday Night Live'' again.
Andrew Dice Clay
When
Andrew Dice Clay
Andrew Dice Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein; September 29, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He rose to prominence in the late 1980s with a brash, deliberately offensive persona known as "The Diceman". In 1990, he became the fi ...
was scheduled as a host for the May 12, 1990 episode, cast member
Nora Dunn
Nora Dunn (born April 29, 1952) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch variety TV series '' Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990, Dr. Reynolds in ''The Nanny'' (1998-1999), and Muriel in '' Home Economic ...
immediately announced to the press that she was boycotting the show in protest. She stated the protest was in view of Clay's perceivably misogynistic act, and did so without informing Michaels, the cast, or most of the crew about her intent. The public backlash was immediate; the selection of Clay was compared to
the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
by an audience member during an interview with Michaels. Female members of the cast and crew were harassed by phone and mail for sticking with the show, and metal detectors were installed at the studio to enhance security. NBC censors insisted that the episode be aired with a delay to compensate for anything Clay might say on air. During the live show, some audience members heckled Clay but were immediately removed by the increased
security detail. Dunn's contract was already coming to an end, and with one episode left in the season, the staff voted against having her take part in the final episode of the season, and her contract was not renewed. Dunn later expressed her surprise at the lack of support she received from her colleagues in her refusal to participate.
Sinéad O'Connor was scheduled to be the musical guest for the episode, but she also boycotted the show because of Clay's involvement, forcing the producers to find two musical replacements, with one performance by
Julee Cruise
Julee Ann Cruise (December 1, 1956 – June 9, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and actress, known for her collaborations with composer Angelo Badalamenti and film director David Lynch in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She released fo ...
and a second by Spanic Boys.
Sinéad O'Connor
On October 3, 1992, O'Connor was scheduled to appear, performing an
a cappella performance of
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...
's "
War
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
". During the dress rehearsal of the episode, O'Connor held up a photo of a
Balkan child as a protest of child abuse in war before bowing and leaving the stage, which the episode's director
Dave Wilson described as a "very tender moment".
During the live show, O'Connor changed the "War" lyric "fight racial injustice" to "fight child abuse" as a protest against the then still relatively unknown cases of
sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. She presented a photo of
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
while singing the word "evil", before tearing the image into pieces and saying "Fight the real enemy!"
NBC had no foreknowledge of O'Connor's plan, and Wilson purposely failed to use the "applause" button, leaving the audience to sit in silence.
Tim Robbins
Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film '' The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and has won an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards for his rol ...
, who was the host for that episode and was raised as a devout Catholic, refused to acknowledge O'Connor at the end of the show. NBC received thousands of irate calls in the aftermath of the incident, and protests against O'Connor occurred outside of
30 Rockefeller Plaza
30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the 66-s ...
, where a steamroller crushed dozens of her tapes, CDs, and LPs.
In the following weeks on ''SNL'', Catholic guests
Joe Pesci
Joseph Frank Pesci ( , ; born February 9, 1943) is an American actor and musician. He is known for portraying tough, volatile characters in a variety of genres and for his collaborations with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in the films ''Rag ...
and
Madonna both voiced their opposition to O'Connor.
The show also aired several sketches mocking O'Connor. She has not appeared on ''Saturday Night Live'' since. The incident occurred a full nine years before John Paul II, in a 2001 apology, acknowledged that the sexual abuse within the Church was "a profound contradiction of the teaching and witness of Jesus Christ", followed in 2008 by Pope
Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
apologizing and meeting with victims, speaking of his "shame" at the evil of abuse, calling for perpetrators to be brought to justice, and denouncing mishandling by church authorities.
NBC still declines to rebroadcast the sequence with the exception of an interview with O'Connor on MSNBC's ''
The Rachel Maddow Show
''The Rachel Maddow Show'' (also abbreviated ''TRMS'') is an American liberal news and opinion television program that airs on MSNBC, running in the 9:00 pm ET timeslot Monday evenings. It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained a public p ...
'', which aired on April 24, 2010, when the clip was aired in full. In reruns, the incident is replaced with the dress rehearsal performance. The original episode was made available on volume four of the DVD special "''Saturday Night Live'' – 25 Years of Music", with an introduction by Michaels about the incident. On February 20, 2011, the clip was aired on the ''SNL'' special "Backstage" showing footage of the dress rehearsal and live performance side by side. The footage cuts to interviewees during the moment the photo was ripped.
The incident was mocked during an episode of the television show ''
30 Rock'' (created by former ''Saturday Night Live'' head writer
Tina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...
) in which it is mentioned that Tracy Jordan, star of ''TGS'' (the show's in-universe analogue to ''Saturday Night Live'') tore up a picture of the pope during an episode; it is replied, "In his defense, it was
Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254.
Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...
, because he increased taxation in the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
." A later episode parodied the ''Saturday Night Live'' incident when an NBC page (
Kristen Schaal
Kristen Joy Schaal (; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her voice roles as Louise Belcher on ''Bob's Burgers'' and Mabel Pines on ''Gravity Falls''. She's also known for playing Mel on '' ...
) goes on stage and tears a picture of O'Connor in half. It was also mocked in the third episode of ''
The Life of Rock with Brian Pern
The ''Brian Pern'' documentaries are a British comedy spoof-documentary series about a fictional ageing rock star, Brian Pern, the former frontman of the 1970s progressive rock group Thotch. The series is written by Rhys Thomas and Simon Day, ...
'', which features the fictional title musician Brian Pern's appearance on a 1992 episode of ''Saturday Night Live'', where he tears up a picture of
The Fonz, calling him "evil" after remarking "lies", as a protest against ''
Happy Days
''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...
'' providing a distraction to the American public from American foreign policy aggression.
This incident was also spoofed by the Australian band
TISM
TISM (an acronym of This Is Serious Mum) are a seven-piece anonymous alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia on 30 December 1982 by vocalist/drummer Humphrey B. Flaubert, bassist/vocalist Jock Cheese and keyboardist/vocalist Eug ...
on the album cover of ''Censored Due to Legal Advice''. The album really was censored due to a lawsuit. The original name of the album was ''
Australia the Lucky Cunt
''Australia the Lucky Cunt'' is an extended play by Australian alternative rock band TISM. It was released on 3 September 1993. The title is a play on the expression " The Lucky Country".
The EP was withdrawn from sale one week after release ...
'' and depicted a
koala
The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the w ...
drawn in the style of artist
Ken Done
Kenneth Stephen Done (born 29 June 1940) is an Australian artist best known for his design work. Although his simple, brightly coloured images of Australian landmarks have adorned a very popular range of clothing and homewares sold under the " ...
with a syringe in its mouth. Done was angered by this cover and on the week after the album's September 1993 release date obtained an injunction order banning the sale of the album.
The album was re-released in November the same year under the ''Censored Due to Legal Advice'' title with the cover depicting four images of O'Connor on ''Saturday Night Live'' edited to show her tearing up a sheet of the TISM logo and the album title on it instead of the pope.
Rage Against the Machine
On April 13, 1996, musical guests
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commer ...
(RATM) were scheduled to perform two songs. The show was hosted that night by billionaire and then-presidential candidate
Steve Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandso ...
. According to RATM guitarist
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, More ...
, "RATM wanted to stand in sharp juxtaposition to a billionaire telling jokes and promoting his
flat tax by making our own statement." To this end, the band hung two
upside-down American flag
The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...
s from their amplifiers. Seconds before they took the stage to perform "
Bulls on Parade", stagehands were sent in to pull the flags down. Following the removal of the flags during the first performance, the band was approached by NBC officials and ordered to immediately leave the building. Upon hearing this, bassist
Tim Commerford
Tim Commerford (born February 26, 1968) is an American musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for rock band Rage Against the Machine, and supergroup (music), supergroups Audioslave and Prophets of Rage. Since 2013 and 2015, he ...
reportedly stormed Forbes' dressing room, throwing shreds from one of the torn-down flags. Morello said that members of the ''SNL'' cast and crew, whom he declined to name, "expressed solidarity with our actions, and a sense of shame that their show had censored the performance." Since this incident, Rage Against the Machine has not appeared on ''Saturday Night Live'' again.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
's second hosting appearance, in the midst of his
2016 presidential campaign
This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*7 January: Kiri ...
, courted controversy and protests. Latino advocacy groups pressed NBC to cancel Trump's appearance, due to his remarks on Mexican immigration, while protestors picketed
Trump Tower
Trump Tower is a 58-story, mixed-use skyscraper at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organization, as well ...
and
30 Rockefeller Plaza
30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the 66-s ...
in the days preceding and of the show, holding "DUMP TRUMP" signs.
That group created a petition to cancel Trump's hosting with over 500,000 signatures, delivering it to Michaels and
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
NBCUniversal is primaril ...
Chief Executive
Steve Burke.
The
Congressional Hispanic Caucus
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is an organization of 38 Democratic members of the United States Congress of Hispanic and Latino descent. The Caucus focuses on issues affecting Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. The CHC was fou ...
issued a "statement of opposition" to Trump's appearance. The group DeportRacism.com offered $5,000 in cash to any audience member that would heckle Trump and call him a
racist during his monologue.
The show aired on November 7, 2015, and due to the
equal-time rule
The equal-time rule specifies that American radio and television broadcast stations must provide equivalent access to competing political candidates. This means, for example, that if a station broadcasts a message by a candidate in prime time, i ...
, Trump only appeared for a total of twelve minutes.
The notion of heckling was referenced in the show, when
Larry David
Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He and Jerry Seinfeld created the television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', on which David was head writer and executive producer for the first seve ...
(who had guested earlier in the evening to play politician
Bernie Sanders) called Trump a racist, but only to secure the $5,000.
In the end, the episode received 9.3 million viewers—the program's highest ratings in nearly four years
—but was panned by critics. NBC subsequently offered free airtime to Republican candidates who filed equal time requests.
Kanye West
On September 29, 2018, during the end credits, musical guest
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
, who wore a "
Make America Great Again
"Make America Great Again" or MAGA is an American political slogan popularized by Donald Trump in his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants i ...
" hat, launched into a third performance with the song "
Ghost Town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...
" featuring
Kid Cudi and
070 Shake
Danielle Balbuena (born June 13, 1997), better known by her stage name 070 Shake, is an American hip hop recording artist. 070 Shake is a part of the musical collective 070, who have released a mixtape together titled ''The 070 Project: Chapter ...
. Midway through the performance, NBC cut to commercial, as the show had reached the end of its allotted airtime. After finishing the performance, West began pontificating about the "liberal media" attacking President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
and his own
2020 presidential bid. This resulted in boos from the audience, as the cast stood off to the side of the stage and kept their heads down. The impromptu speech was captured in part by comedian and former ''SNL'' cast member
Chris Rock. During the rant that was uploaded to
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
by West's record producer,
Mike Dean, West accused the cast and crew of bullying him about supporting Trump.
Elon Musk
Tesla Motors
Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and trucks), battery energy storage from home to grid- ...
and
SpaceX CEO
Elon Musk
Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The ...
hosted the May 8, 2021 episode of ''Saturday Night Live'' with musical guest
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip ho ...
. The announcement received major criticism and backlash due to Musk's reputedly unlikeable personality and problematic history, with some questioning why Musk was chosen in the first place instead of having Cyrus pull double duty for the third time. Some cast members—
Aidy Bryant
Aidan Mackenzy Bryant (born May 7, 1987) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the late-night variety series ''Saturday Night Live'' (2012–2022), beginning in season 38, and leaving at the end of season 47. For her wo ...
,
Michael Che
Michael Che Campbell (; born May 19, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his work on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he has served as co-anchor on '' Weekend Update'' alongside Colin Jost, and the two w ...
,
Andrew Dismukes, and
Bowen Yang
Bowen Yang ( zh, link=no, 楊伯文; born November 6, 1990) is an Australian-born American actor, comedian, podcaster, and writer based in New York City. He co-hosts a comedy pop-culture podcast, '' Las Culturistas,'' with Matt Rogers. Since Se ...
—have voiced their opinions about the choice of Musk via
Instagram stories. Che and Dismukes joked about the controversy; while Che responded to an angry tweet made by actor
John Cusack
John Paul Cusack (; born June 28, 1966)(28 June 1996)Today's birthdays ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', ("Actors John Cusack is 30") is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and political activist. He is a son of filmmaker Dick Cusack, and his ol ...
by confusing him with his sister
Joan Cusack
Joan Mary Cusack (; born October 11, 1962) is an American actress. She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in the comedy-drama '' Working Girl'' (1988) and the romantic comedy '' In & Out'' (1997 ...
, but elsewhere stated "To me, it makes it exciting, I mean, everybody wants to watch now, so that's cool". Bryant and Yang, however, were straightforward with their opinions, with Bryant posting a tweet made by
Bernie Sanders about wealthy people such as Musk earning more than the American people during the pandemic, and Yang posted a shocked emoji and a response to a cryptic tweet made by Musk about his hosting gig with Yang saying "what the fuck does this even mean?" Some critics on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
claimed this booking was similar to the
Donald Trump/Sia episode and blamed
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...
for making this decision.
Other
A number of hosts and musical guests have been "banned" from appearing on the show again and there have been examples of other controversial goings-on within ''SNL''. Examples of these are noted below.
Incidents
* On December 13, 1975, the show was ordered by NBC network officials to run the episode hosted by comedian
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...
on a five-second
tape delay. Engineers at the show later said they did not run the delay because no one knew how to achieve the effect. However, the first edition of ''
The Book of Lists
The ''Book of Lists'' refers to any one of a series of books compiled by David Wallechinsky, his father Irving Wallace and sister Amy Wallace.
Each book contains hundreds of lists (many accompanied by textual explanations) on unusual or obscu ...
'', describing the broadcast, indicated that two words were deleted during the broadcast, although what was censored is not specified.
* The December 15, 1979, episode featured three songs by musical guest
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
, concluding with a performance of "
Boys Keep Swinging", which used a
green screen effect to superimpose Bowie's head on the body of a marionette he operated while singing. Censors muted the lyric "other boys check you out" during the performance, but were unable to react in time when the song concluded with a large phallus repeatedly popping out of the marionette's pants. The episode was not edited further for rebroadcasts.
* The episode of February 21, 1981, hosted by ''
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
'' star
Charlene Tilton
Charlene L. Tilton (born December 1, 1958) is an American actress and singer. She is widely known for playing Lucy Ewing, the niece of brothers J. R. Ewing and Bobby Ewing (played by Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy), on the television ser ...
, featured a parody of the famed "
Who shot J.R.?" story arc from the then-popular nighttime soap. During the show a plot line had cast member
Charles Rocket
Charles Adams Claverie (August 28, 1949 – October 7, 2005), known by stage names Charlie Hamburger, Charlie Kennedy and Charles Rocket, was an American actor, comedian, musician, and television news reporter. He was a cast member on ''Saturda ...
and Tilton flirting while other cast members expressed jealousy, leading to Rocket being shot in the chest by a sniper in the middle of a sketch. In the show's closing moments, as cast members gathered with the host to say good night, Tilton asked Rocket how he felt about being shot. In character, Rocket replied "Oh man, it's the first time I've ever been shot in my life. I'd like to know who the fuck did it." He attempted to explain it away as an extemporaneous exclamation. This later contributed to Rocket's dismissal from the show. During this same episode, musical guest Prince was thought to have sung the lyric "Fightin' war is such a fuckin' bore" during his performance of "Partyup", but it went largely unnoticed at the time, as censors either missed it or were unsure whether he actually had said "fuckin'" or "funkin'".
* A stand-up routine by
Sam Kinison
Samuel Burl Kinison ( ; December 8, 1953 – April 10, 1992) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. A former Pentecostal preacher, he performed stand-up routines that were characterized by intense sudden tirades, punctuated with his distinc ...
during the October 18, 1986, episode was edited for the West Coast telecast and later airings, replacing two sections of the routine with a silent image of the previous season's cast. The first cutaway occurred when Kinison encouraged the legalization of
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...
and said: "You can't get any more pot. If you give us back the pot, we'll forget about the crack."
The joke violated NBC policy of the time that all references to drugs must be negative. The second, longer cutaway occurred when Kinison made a joke about
the Crucifixion
The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and considere ...
. During rehearsal, Kinison had not performed the drug joke but he had performed, and been asked to remove, the Crucifixion joke.
[
* In a December 5, 1992, "]Wayne's World
"Wayne's World" was originally a recurring sketch from the NBC television series ''Saturday Night Live''. It evolved from a segment titled "Wayne's Power Minute" (1987) on the CBC Television series '' It's Only Rock & Roll'', as the main characte ...
" sketch, the characters Wayne and Garth (portrayed by Mike Myers
Michael John Myers OC (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. His accolades include seven MTV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywoo ...
and Dana Carvey
Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, impressionist, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his seven seasons as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1986 to 1993, which earned him fiv ...
) made fun of Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Victoria Clinton (born February 27, 1980) is an American writer and global health advocate. She is the only child of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinto ...
, daughter of then-President-elect Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
. Wayne noted that while "adolescence has been thus far unkind" to the then-twelve-year-old Chelsea, Garth opined that "she could turn into a babe in waiting." First Lady Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
was publicly critical of the jokes, and they were subsequently edited out of all repeats and syndication rebroadcasts of this sketch. "We felt, upon reflection, that if it was in any way hurtful, it wasn't worth it," said executive producer Lorne Michaels. "She's a kid, a kid who didn't choose to be in public life." Myers himself wrote a letter of apology to the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
.
* The 13th episode of ''SNL'' 19th season, aired the weekend before Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...
in 1994, featured a sketch in which host Alec Baldwin portrays a scoutmaster
A Scout leader or Scouter generally refers to the trained adult leader of a Scout unit. The terms used vary from country to country, over time, and with the type of unit.
Roles
There are many different roles a leader can fulfill depending on t ...
making overt sexual advances towards the Boy Scout character Canteen Boy
Canteen Boy is a recurring ''Saturday Night Live'' character played by Adam Sandler. Canteen Boy is a naive, childlike assistant scoutmaster with an acute attention to detail. He is always seen with a full scout's uniform and a canteen around his ...
(played by Adam Sandler). The sketch generated a considerable amount of complaints from viewers, who felt it was homophobic
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...
and trivialized pedophilia
Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty ...
. ''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
'' columnist Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American columnist and film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. He co-hosted the television series '' At the Movies'' with Roger Ebert from 2000 to 2008, serving as the late Gene Siskel's success ...
stated that he received calls from his readers claiming they stopped watching the sketch before it finished, while the Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...
said: "We see nothing funny about child molestation, and are surprised that this unfunny subject would be selected for a comedy sketch." Baldwin said that NBC received 300,000 phone call complaints and lost seven affiliates due to the sketch, though this was proven false. Nonetheless, the sketch frequently appears in lists of the most controversial ''SNL'' moments, and reruns add a disclaimer that Sandler's character is 27 years old.
* During an April 12, 1997, ''Weekend Update'' story about Tabitha Soren
Tabitha Soren (born August 19, 1967) is an American fine art photographer and former reporter for MTV News, ABC News and NBC News.
Early career
As a 19-year-old college student at NYU, Soren appeared in the 1987 music video for " (You Gotta) Figh ...
, anchor Norm Macdonald
Norman Gene MacdonaldThe capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as ''TV Guide''. Books that discuss him, such as ''Shales'' (2003) and Crawford' (2000), as well as other sources such as ...
, a cast member who was no stranger to on-air controversies during his tenure at the ''Weekend Update'' desk, appeared to cough and choke momentarily, causing him to pause and then mutter live, "What the fuck was that?" The audience applauded, and Macdonald laughed the error away, saying at one point that he hoped everyone was enjoying "my farewell performance" and, in closing, "Maybe we'll see you next week". He was fired at the start of January 1998, partly because of this incident and partly (according to NBC's management, and disputed by much of the cast) due to a "drop in ratings and general reduction of quality." Macdonald and others believed that the real reason for his dismissal was the inclusion of a series of jokes calling O. J. Simpson a murderer during and after his double murder trial in Los Angeles. NBC Entertainment president Don Ohlmeyer was good friends with Simpson, and had thrown a party for the jurors who acquitted Simpson after the trial. The jokes were written primarily by Macdonald and longtime ''SNL'' writer Jim Downey, who was fired from ''SNL'' outright at the same time. Downey was re-hired in 2000. Macdonald was replaced on ''Weekend Update'' by Colin Quinn
Colin Edward Quinn (born June 6, 1959) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Quinn first gained widespread attention for his work as a cast member and writer for the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2 ...
, beginning on the January 10, 1998 episode. Macdonald's firing was widely criticized, most notably by comedian Chevy Chase, who was largely responsible for originating ''Weekend Update''. Chase argued that Macdonald's "time in the chair asamong the funniest and ostwell-written of all the Weekend Update stints".
* In March 1998, a Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, producer, and puppeteer, known for his ''Saturday Night Live'' " TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts and as the puppeteer and voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic D ...
animated short film called ''Conspiracy Theory Rock'', a parody of the show '' Schoolhouse Rock!'', aired as part of the '' TV Funhouse'' segment. The scathingly political short accused big corporations, including Time Warner
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
, Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
, Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
, Westinghouse, and then-owner of NBC General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...
, of developing a media monopoly to manipulate public perception and conceal questionable actions. The clip aired only once as part of the original ''SNL'' episode and was removed from syndicated repeats, with Michaels explaining that it "wasn't funny" (thereby ironically seeming to confirm the semi-satirical accusation). The clip was eventually released as part of the ''Saturday TV Funhouse'' compilation DVD in 2006.
* While performing their single " B.Y.O.B." on May 7, 2005, System of a Down
System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, voc ...
's Daron Malakian
Daron Malakian (born July 18, 1975) is an Armenian-American musician. He is best known as the guitarist, songwriter, and second vocalist of metal band System of a Down, and as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwrit ...
exclaimed "fuck yeah". The band had previously refused to self-censor their performance, leading censors to mute "fuck" each time it was sung, but miss Malakian's impromptu yell. It was subsequently edited out of the West Coast telecast of the show.
* The episode hosted by Rainn Wilson
Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive Em ...
, aired on February 24, 2007, and featured a sketch entitled "Danny's Song," wherein bar patrons listen to the titular song and reminisce about inappropriate memories. A character played by Bill Hader
William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the creator, producer, writer, director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series ''Barry'' (201 ...
says, "He loved this song. I remember we had this one great day at the park. We just had so much fun. He was running in the grass and chasing squirrels. They had this fountain and we threw pennies in it for hours. So great. It was the first day that I ever thought to myself: 'I have a dad. And not that I have a dad with Down's syndrome
Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual disa ...
. He loved crayons.'" The skit prompted criticism from Jon Colman, the CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society
The National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) is an American organization that offers support to people with Down syndrome, their families, friends, teachers, and coworkers, and educates the general public about Down syndrome. The mission of the NDS ...
, which led to the words "Down's syndrome" being bleeped
A bleep censor is the replacement of a profanity or classified information with a beep (sound), beep sound (usually a ) in television and radio. It is mainly used in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong ...
in later rebroadcasts.
* On September 26, 2009, Jenny Slate
Jenny Sarah Slate (born March 25, 1982) is an American actress, comedian, and author. Born and raised in Milton, Massachusetts, Slate was educated at Milton Academy and studied literature at Columbia University, where she became involved in the ...
made her ''SNL'' debut in a "biker babes" sketch alongside Kristen Wiig
Kristen Carroll Wiig (; born August 22, 1973) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Canandaigua, New York, she was raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Rochester, New York. She moved to Los Angeles, where she jo ...
and actress Megan Fox
Megan Denise Fox (born May 16, 1986) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the family film '' Holiday in the Sun'' (2001), which was followed by numerous supporting roles in film and television, such as the teen musical comedy ...
in which their characters repeatedly use the word "frickin'". In one instance Slate accidentally said "fuckin'" instead, which was dubbed over with "freakin'" for subsequent airings. Slate was "pulled back" in subsequent episodes.
* On December 15, 2012, actor Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...
, appearing on the recurring Kenan Thompson
Kenan Thompson (; born May 10, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He has been a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' since 2003, making him the longest-tenured cast member in the show's history. He was also t ...
sketch " What Up with That?" as a talk show guest whose segment was cut for time, exclaimed what sounded like the words "fuck" and "bullshit". Thompson ad-libbed in response, "C'mon, Sam, that costs money!" Jackson later claimed he had not said the full word "fuck" and that Thompson was supposed to cut off his second expletive.
* On March 12, 2016, Ariana Grande uttered the word "shit" during her opening monologue. The profanity was "expected" to be edited out of the West Coast broadcast, but was not.
* On November 12, 2016, host Dave Chappelle deliberately used the words "goddamn" and "nigger
In the English language, the word ''nigger'' is an ethnic slur used against black people, especially African Americans. Starting in the late 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been progressively replaced by the euphemism , notably in cases ...
" throughout his monologue and in several sketches. Although NBC did not censor Chappelle, Raleigh
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...
affiliate WRAL-TV
WRAL-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Research Triangle area. It is the flagship station of the locally based Capitol Broadcasting Company, which h ...
, which had only joined the network earlier in the year, did so, as it found airing profanity to be in violation of its own policy.
* On February 4, 2017, host Kristen Stewart
Kristen Jaymes Stewart (born April 9, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2012, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a César Award, in addition to nominations for an Aca ...
said that hosting the show was "the coolest fucking thing ever" during her opening monologue. Stewart realized her mistake, apologized and joked that she would never be invited back. She hosted again on November 2, 2019.
* The episode hosted by Gal Gadot
Gal Gadot-Varsano ( he, גל גדות ; born 30 April 1985) is an Israeli actress and model. At age 18, she was crowned Miss Israel 2004. She then served in the Israel Defense Forces for two years as a combat fitness instructor, whereafter she ...
aired on October 7, 2017, and featured a sketch entitled "Safelite AutoGlass." The sketch drew controversy for a scene in which a Safelite windshield repairman purposely breaks a customer's windshield in order to hit on the customer's 17-year-old daughter. The sketch was subsequently pulled from rebroadcasts and the Internet. Rebroadcasts replaced the sketch with a previously unaired sketch entitled "The Last Fry".
* On January 13, 2018, host Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in independent films and also as a character actor portraying a wide variety of roles both comedic and dramatic in films such as '' Lawn Dogs'' (19 ...
accidentally said "you can't be this fucking stupid" while in character as a frustrated children's television host reminiscent of Mr. Wizard
''Mister'', usually written in its contracted form ''Mr.'' or ''Mr'', is a commonly used English honorific for men without a higher honorific, or professional title, or any of various designations of office. The title 'Mr' derived from earlier ...
. In the same episode, ''Weekend Update'' co-anchor Colin Jost
Colin Kelly Jost (; born June 29, 1982) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He has been a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) since 2005 and '' Weekend Update'' co-anchor since 2014. He also served as one of the show's co-head writ ...
said the word "shithole" in reference to then-President Donald Trump's comments about "shithole countries" despite NBC asking him to say "s-hole." Both incidents were censored for the West Coast broadcast of the show.
* On November 3, 2018, cast member Pete Davidson
Peter Michael Davidson (born November 16, 1993) is an American comedian and actor. He was a cast member of the NBC late-night sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) for eight seasons, running from 2014 to 2022.
Davidson's ...
said during his ''Weekend Update First Impressions'' segment on the 2018 Midterm Election candidates that Lieutenant Commander Dan Crenshaw
Daniel Reed Crenshaw (born March 14, 1984) is an American politician and former United States Navy SEAL officer serving as the United States representative for Texas's 2nd congressional district since 2019. The district includes parts of northe ...
looked like "a hitman in a porno movie." Crenshaw himself made a cameo on the next episode's ''Weekend Update'', in which Davidson apologised to him. Davidson later rescinded the apology, implying that he apologised because he was compelled to do so.
* On September 12, 2019, the night before ''SNL'' planned to announce the three new cast members hired for the 45th season, several offensive remarks made by incoming cast member Shane Gillis
Shane Gillis (born December 11, 1987) is an American stand-up comedian, radio personality, sketch comedy writer, and podcaster. He is co-host of ''Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast'' with fellow stand-up comedian Matt McCusker. Sanneh, Kelefa (Sep ...
were made public. Freelance comedy reporter Seth Simons posted clips, since removed from YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
, of an episode of ''Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast'' from 2018 in which Gillis made racist and mocking remarks about Chinese people. A video of the podcast, removed before Gillis's hiring but reposted to Twitter, showed Gillis using racial slurs against Asian people, making derogatory references to the food they eat, and discussing his frustration with their inability to learn English, later referring to it as "good racism". Early in 2019, he called Democratic presidential nominee Andrew Yang
Andrew Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American businessman, attorney, lobbyist, and politician. Yang was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary. He is the co-c ...
a "Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
Chink". Gillis responded to the backlash with what ''Vox'' and ''The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' characterized as a non-apology. Four days later, on September 16, a spokesperson for Michaels announced that Gillis had been removed from the cast.
* On the November 7, 2020, episode, Dave Chappelle said "nigga
''Nigga'' () is a colloquial and vulgar term used in African-American Vernacular English that began as a dialect form of the word ''nigger'', an ethnic slur against black people. The word is commonly associated with hip hop music and Afri ...
" several times during the opening monologue. It was unclear whether or not this would result in a response from the FCC.
* On the February 20, 2021, episode, ''Weekend Update'' co-host Michael Che
Michael Che Campbell (; born May 19, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his work on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he has served as co-anchor on '' Weekend Update'' alongside Colin Jost, and the two w ...
said, "Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
is reporting that they've vaccinated half of their population, and I'm gonna guess it's the Jewish half". This joke was criticized by Israeli officials and by several major U.S. Jewish groups, including the American Jewish Committee, who accused Che's joke of being an antisemitic trope.
* On May 8, 2021, a sketch titled "Gen Z Hospital" that played on popular Internet phrases, derived from African-American Vernacular English was met with criticism by Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
users calling the show out for poking fun at it. Sketch writer Michael Che
Michael Che Campbell (; born May 19, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his work on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he has served as co-anchor on '' Weekend Update'' alongside Colin Jost, and the two w ...
responded on Instagram on May 10 writing: "I've been reading about how my 'gen z' sketch was misappropriating AAVE and I was stunned cause what the fuck is 'AAVE'? I had to look it up. Turns out it's an acronym for 'African American vernacular english.' You know, AAVE! That ol' saying that actual black people use in conversation all the time...look, the sketch bombed. I'm used to that. I meant no offense to the 'aave' community. I love aave. Aave to the moon!"
* On May 22, 2021, rapper Lil Nas X
Montero Lamar Hill (born April 9, 1999), known by his stage name Lil Nas X ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his country rap single " Old Town Road", which first achieved viral popula ...
had a wardrobe malfunction during a musical performance as he ripped his pants.
* The October 8, 2022 episode hosted by Brendan Gleeson
Brendan Gleeson (born 29 March 1955) is an Irish actor and film director. He is the recipient of three IFTA Awards, two British Independent Film Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award and has been nominated twice for a BAFTA Award and four times fo ...
featured a sketch that parodied a recent cheating
Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate crit ...
controversy from the American online comedy group The Try Guys
''The Try Guys'' is an American online entertainment group and media production company which produces content for their YouTube channel. The group was founded by Keith Habersberger, Ned Fulmer, Zach Kornfeld, and Eugene Lee Yang. The Try Guys ...
. The sketch was met with criticism for downplaying the severity of the situation, with many noting that behind closed doors, The Try Guys were ultimately handling workplace misconduct, and that the sketch writers undermined how a situation like this should be handled.
Banned performers
The following performers have been banned from either hosting or performing on ''Saturday Night Live'' mostly due to being badly rehearsed, going offscript (which Lorne Michaels reportedly hates), camera-mugging, not getting along with the cast and crew, or anything else that would be inappropriate.
*On the October 29, 1977 episode, host Charles Grodin
Charles Sidney Grodin (April 21, 1935 – May 18, 2021) was an American actor, comedian, author, and television talk show host. Grodin began his acting career in the 1960s appearing in TV serials including '' The Virginian''. After a small part ...
performed the entire episode as if he was incompetent, the cast never letting on that it was all on purpose. This led to the rumor he was banned. Any mention of a ban has since been debunked as part of the joke. Lorne Michaels invited him to host again but Grodin declined.
* On the December 17, 1977 episode hosted by Miskel Spillman (winner of the "Anyone Can Host" contest), Elvis Costello was the musical guest. Costello was slated to perform " Less Than Zero" due to pressure from his record company. Costello disagreed, and felt that the song, which was about British Union of Fascists leader Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...
, would not be understood by an American audience and was too low-key to make much impact. After only a few bars, Costello stopped his band, and said to the audience, "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but there's no reason to do this song here." The band then began to play "Radio Radio
"Radio Radio" is a song written by Elvis Costello and performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. The song originated as a Bruce Springsteen-inspired song called "Radio Soul" that Costello had written in 1974. In 1977, Costello reworked ...
" instead. Costello was not invited back until 1989 and 1991. He parodied the incident on the 25th anniversary show by interrupting the Beastie Boys' performance of "Sabotage", which quickly morphed into a joint performance of "Radio Radio" with the Beastie Boys as his backing ensemble.
* Frank Zappa was banned after his 1978 episode for doing a "disastrous job of hosting the show", mugging for the camera, and even announcing to the audience that he was reading from cue cards.
* On April 14, 1979, Milton Berle guest-hosted the program. Berle's long reputation for taking control of an entire television production—whether invited to do so or not—was a cause of major on-set stress. One of the show's writers, Rosie Shuster
Rosie Shuster (born June 19, 1950) is a Canadian-born comedy writer and actress. She was a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'' during the 1970s and 1980s.
Biography
Shuster was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to Ruth (''née'' Burstyn), an inte ...
, described the rehearsals for the Berle ''SNL'' show, and the telecast, as "watching a comedy train accident in slow motion on a loop." Upstaging, camera mugging, doing spit-take A spit-take is a comedic technique or reaction in which someone spits a drink, or sometimes food, out of their mouth as a reaction to a surprising or funny statement.
An essential part of the spit-take is comedic timing. The person performing the ...
s, inserting old comedy bits, and climaxing the show with a maudlin performance of "September Song
"September Song" is an American standard popular song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson. It was introduced by Walter Huston in the 1938 Broadway musical production ''Knickerbocker Holiday.'' The song has been recorded by num ...
" complete with a pre-arranged standing ovation (something producer Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...
had never sanctioned) resulted in Berle being banned from hosting the show again. The episode was also barred from being rerun until surfacing in 2003, because Michaels thought it brought down the show's reputation.
* In 1982, Robert Blake Robert Blake may refer to:
Sportspeople
* Bob Blake (American football) (1885–1962), American football player
* Robbie Blake (born 1976), English footballer
* Bob Blake (ice hockey) (1914–2008), American ice hockey player
* Rob Blake (born 196 ...
was banned after taking a script, crumpling it up, and throwing it into the face of cast member and writer Gary Kroeger
Gary Kroeger (born April 13, 1957) is an American businessman, columnist, and actor best known for his work as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1982 to 1985, and his work on various game shows. He ran in the Democratic Congressional ...
.
* In 1986, The Replacements were banned after they came out drunk during their performance of " Bastards of Young" and later appeared in each other's clothes during the second performance. However, Paul Westerberg
Paul Harold Westerberg (born December 31, 1959) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the Replacements. Following the breakup of the Replacements, Westerberg launched a solo career that saw him re ...
later went solo and was allowed to appear. The band did not perform again on any NBC television program until 2014, when they appeared on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...
''.
* Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...
was banned after hosting in 1991. Lorne Michaels called him the "worst host ever" as well as difficult to work with. In a later episode hosted by Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...
, Lorne Michaels got in a jab at Seagal. When Cage lamented during his monologue that the audience might think he's the biggest jerk who's ever been on the show, Michaels responded "No, no. That would be Steven Seagal."
* A portion of Martin Lawrence
Martin Fitzgerald LawrenceStated in interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio'' (born April 16, 1965) is an American comedian and actor. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor. He got his start playin ...
's February 19, 1994 monologue concerning feminine hygiene was removed from all repeats and replaced with a voice-over
Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...
and intertitle
In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialo ...
s stating that the excised portion "...was a frank and lively presentation, and nearly cost us all our jobs." Lawrence also made references to genitalia when he talked about the John and Lorena Bobbitt
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
incident. This led to Lawrence being subsequently banned from ever hosting, appearing, or even being mentioned on the show, although Leslie Jones mentioned his show ''Martin Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austr ...
'' during a 2016 ''Weekend Update'' segment.
* Original ''Weekend Update'' anchor Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
's issues with cast members and writers led to his being the only ''SNL'' alum banned from the show. While he had fought Bill Murray
William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...
during his time as a cast member, and insulted Robert Downey Jr.
Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has been characterized by critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, before a resurgence of ...
and Terry Sweeney
Terry Sweeney is an American artist, actor, and writer. He was a writer and cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1980s, co-wrote the 1989 film '' Shag'', and has written for the television ''series MADtv'', '' Hype'', and ''Tripping the ...
when returning as a guest host in 1985, the ban came in 1997 after he harassed women on the show, including Cheri Oteri
Cheryl Ann Oteri () is an American actress and comedian. A nominee of a Primetime Emmy Award, Oteri is best known for her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2000.
Early life
The daughte ...
, whom he hit on the back of the head. The ban only appears to be limited to hosting, however, as Chase participated in sketches and specials since 1997.
* In 2003, Adrien Brody
Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...
introduced musical guest Sean Paul while wearing fake dreadlocks and speaking in fake Jamaican Patois
Jamaican Patois (; locally rendered Patwah and called Jamaican Creole by linguists) is an English-based creole language with West African influences, spoken primarily in Jamaica and among the Jamaican diaspora. A majority of the non-English ...
for 45 seconds, prompting Michaels to allegedly to ban. It was previously thought to be an ad-lib, but was later revealed to have been rehearsed.
Plagiarism allegations
* The sketch "O'Callahan & Son Pub", aired March 18, 1995, on the episode hosted by Paul Reiser
Paul Reiser (; born March 30, 1956) is an American actor, comedian, and television writer. He is known for his roles as Michael Taylor in the 1980s sitcom ''My Two Dads'', Paul Buchman in the NBC sitcom ''Mad About You'', Modell in the 1982 fi ...
, was entirely lifted from a standup routine by comedian Rick Shapiro
Rick Shapiro (born April 13, 1959) is a Los Angeles-based comedian and actor.
Life and career
Shapiro was born in New Jersey. Spending his early years in New York City and New Jersey, Shapiro started his career in the early 1980s as a comedia ...
by cast member/writer Jay Mohr
Jon Ferguson "Jay" Mohr (born August 23, 1970) is an American actor, comedian and radio host. He is known for his roles as film producer Peter Dragon in the TV comedy series '' Action'', Professor Rick Payne in the TV series ''Ghost Whisperer'' ...
. During rehearsal three weeks later, Mohr was brought to Michaels and shown a tape of Shapiro's act. Mohr denied any knowledge of Shapiro or his act at the time, but later admitted in his memoir that he had stolen the sketch word for word from Shapiro's work. Shapiro and his manager sued the show and gained an undisclosed settlement, which included the removal of the sketch from all reruns of the show.
* "Ladies Who Lunch," a sketch that aired on the September 25, 2010, episode hosted by Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler (; born September 16, 1971) is an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy tro ...
, was deemed similar to the ''Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
''Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!'' is an American sketch comedy series created by and starring Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, which premiered February 11, 2007 on Adult Swim and ran until May 2010. The show features surreal and often sa ...
'' segment "Tiny Hats." Both Tim Heidecker
Timothy Richard Heidecker (; born February 3, 1976) is an American comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician. Along with Eric Wareheim, he is a member of the comedy duo Tim & Eric.
He has also appeared in films, including '' Bridesmai ...
and Eric Wareheim
Eric Alexander Wareheim (; born April 7, 1976) is an American comedian, actor, writer, director, musician, and winemaker. He is best known as one half of the comedy duo Tim & Eric, alongside Tim Heidecker. He also had a recurring role on the Netf ...
jokingly tweeted links to the video. Heidecker told Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
that "I watched it this morning, and found it to be very similar to our sketch, surprisingly similar," while noting it also could have been coincidental.
* The sketch "River Sisters," aired on the October 4, 2014, episode hosted by Sarah Silverman
Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedian, actress, and writer.
Silverman was a writer and performer on ''Saturday Night Live'', and she starred in and produced '' The Sarah Silverman Program'', which ran from 2007 to ...
, was accused of plagiarizing "Rollin'", a similar sketch performed by the Los Angeles improvisation group the Groundlings
The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improvisational theater techniqu ...
.
* A May 9, 2015, sketch showed a contestant on a ''Win, Lose or Draw
''Win, Lose or Draw'' is an American television game show that aired from 1987 to 1990 in syndication and on NBC. It was taped at CBS Television City (one of the few non- CBS game shows to tape there), often in Studios 31, 33, and 43 at various ...
''-style game show panicking at being asked to draw the Muslim prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
. Viewers compared the sketch to a "strikingly similar" January 2015 sketch on the Canadian sketch comedy series ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes
''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' (commonly shortened to ''22 Minutes'' since 2009) is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics w ...
'', igniting allegations of plagiarism.
* In a 2017 episode hosted by Louis C.K.
Louis Alfred Székely (; born September 12, 1967), known professionally as Louis C.K. (), is an American stand-up comedian, screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. C.K. won three Peabody Awards, three Grammy Awards, six Primetime Emmy Awards, and a ...
, a sketch aired in which a man, played by C.K., hires a clown (Bobby Moynihan
Bobby Moynihan (born January 31, 1977) is an American actor, comedian and writer who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 until 2017. He also voiced Louie Duck on Disney's ''DuckTales'' from 2017 to 2021, Panda in ''We Bare Be ...
) to perform at a birthday party at which he is the sole audience member. Comedian Tig Notaro
Mathilde O'Callaghan "Tig" Notaro (born March 24, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, radio contributor, and actress. She is known for her deadpan comedy. Her acclaimed album ''Live'' was nominated in 2014 for the Grammy Award for Be ...
accused the show's writers of plagiarizing her short film ''Clown Service''. Notaro further claimed that a writer who was aware of ''Clown Service'' worked on ''Birthday Clown'', and that Notaro and C.K. had not spoken for over a year.
* In the November 2018 episode hosted by Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill Feldstein (born December 20, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known for his comedic roles in films including ''Superbad'' (2007), '' Knocked Up'' (2007), '' 21 Jump Street'' (2012), '' This Is the End'' (201 ...
, a sketch entitled "America's Got Talent: Wait, They're Good?" was aired. Several fans pointed out the similarities between the performance and a YouTube video posted by comedian Gus Johnson entitled, "Every Episode Of America's Got Talent", and leveled accusations of plagiarism at the show. Johnson himself said that he considered it a coincidence and that he did not feel SNL intended to plagiarize him. In a video made in response, he stated "I really don't even think that SNL did anything wrong; they probably didn't even see my stupid video anyway. I mean, you can't keep up with all the memes on the internet."
* The founders of the sketch comedy troupe Temple Horses alleged that two sketches from Season 44, "The Pumpkin Patch" from the October 13, 2018, episode hosted by Awkwafina
Nora Lum (born June 2, 1988), known professionally as Awkwafina, is an American actress, rapper, and comedian who rose to prominence in 2012 when her rap song "My Vag" became popular on YouTube. She then released her debut album, ''Yellow Ra ...
and "Pound Puppy" from the February 16, 2019, episode hosted by Don Cheadle
Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including two Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also earned nom ...
, were plagiarized from their own earlier sketches "Pet Blinders" and "Not Trying to Fuck This Pumpkin," uploaded to YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
in 2011 and 2014 respectively. In a statement to ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', Ryan Hoffman said "Imagine, one day you come home and it looks like somebody's robbed your house, what do you want from that situation? We feel like somebody took our stuff, and this isn't the kind of thing where you can just get it back or call your insurance company to have it replaced, so at this point we're just speaking out about it."
* The January 30, 2021 episode hosted by John Krasinski included a sketch in which a man is aided during sex by a rat from ''Ratatouille
Ratatouille ( , ), oc, ratatolha , is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables which originated in Nice, and is sometimes referred to as ''ratatouille niçoise'' (). Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include ...
'' kept underneath his hat. This was widely accused to be plagiarized from ''Cum Town
''Cum Town'' was a comedy podcast that was hosted by New York City-based comedians Nick Mullen, Stavros Halkias, and Adam Friedland, and produced between 2016 and 2022. During its run, it was consistently one of the most popular podcasts on ...
'', a comedy podcast associated with would-be cast member Shane Gillis
Shane Gillis (born December 11, 1987) is an American stand-up comedian, radio personality, sketch comedy writer, and podcaster. He is co-host of ''Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast'' with fellow stand-up comedian Matt McCusker. Sanneh, Kelefa (Sep ...
, who later went on to mention the incident on their show.
* The October 1, 2022 season 48 premiere, hosted by Miles Teller
Miles Teller (born February 20, 1987) is an American actor. He played a jazz drummer in '' Whiplash'' and a supporting pilot in '' Top Gun: Maverick''.
Teller made his feature film debut in 2010 and gained recognition for his starring role in ...
, featured a sketch titled "Charman Bears" centered around a family of bears, as seen in the television commercials for Charman toilet paper. The plot consisted of the son of the family breaking the news to his parents that he was uninterested in pursuing a bathroom related higher education and would rather become a dancer instead. The sketch was singled out as being similar in concept to an animated short by YouTuber Joel Haver , which was uploaded July 14, 2022, in which a young Charman bear tries to convince his parents to let him pursue an education in theater or dancing rather than the toilet paper focused family business. Haver responded to the sketch in a video posted October 3, 2022 where he encouraged his audience to give SNL's writers the benefit of the doubt and chalked up the similarities to parallel thinking. Haver also explicitly requested of series creator Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...
that no negative consequences befall the writer of the sketch before taking the opportunity to shine a spotlight on some smaller creators.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNWbI8T42II]
References
Bibliography
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Further reading
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{{Portal bar, Comedy, Television, United States
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live incidents, List of