Lip-synching mishaps, a parade of on-air F-bombs, and a destructive mosh pit. These are just a few reasons why some of music's biggest acts were caught in the crosshairs of "SNL's" censors.
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00:00Lip-syncing mishaps, a parade of on-air F-bombs, and a destructive mosh pit — these are just
00:05a few reasons why some of music's biggest acts were caught in the crosshairs of SNL's
00:09censors.
00:11Kanye West used to be a must-see musical guest on Saturday Night Live, known for delivering
00:15electrifying performances across his seven appearances.
00:18But during a 2018 appearance, he took things to a whole new level by wearing a comically
00:22oversized water bottle costume while performing I Love It.
00:25He also earned the honor of performing Ghost Town for a third time at the show's end.
00:28It was a rare privilege that was usually reserved for legends like Bruce Springsteen
00:32and U2.
00:33However, the performance quickly went off the rails, forcing NBC to abruptly cut the
00:37feed.
00:38And reportedly, the rapper's behavior was the reason why.
00:40For one, West wore a red Make America Great Again hat throughout the performance and launched
00:45into a politically-charged tirade about the media and then-President Trump.
00:48He also dismissed racist allegations about Trump, and even claimed that he was mocked
00:56backstage by the cast for his MAGA hat.
00:59The audience booed West, while host Adam Driver and cast member Chris Redd quietly
01:02walked away.
01:03As West continued his rant, the moment grew even more tense, with some cast members becoming
01:08visibly uncomfortable.
01:09I'm, like, on the left.
01:10I'm like, oh, God.
01:11And then I'm like, I want a career, so I leave.
01:15West hasn't been invited back to SNL since.
01:19In 2012, Lana Del Rey was the fresh new face in pop music, so naturally, she was asked
01:23to perform on SNL.
01:24But it didn't go so well.
01:26While singing video games, Del Rey missed several notes and barely moved from her spot
01:29in the middle of the stage, aside from some weird twirling.
01:33People on the internet wasted no time in criticizing her performance.
01:36On X, actress Juliette Lewis wrote,
01:38"...Wow, watching this singer on SNL is like watching a 12-year-old in their bedroom when
01:41they're pretending to sing and perform."
01:43Another X user was even harsher, writing,
01:45"...Lana Del Rey's next song is called Muted Television while people brush their teeth
01:48and prepare for bed."
01:50SNL eventually weighed in, too.
01:51Weeks after the debacle, cast member Kristen Wiig portrayed Del Rey in a weekend update
01:56segment.
01:57After entering the stage looking dazed, Wiig's Del Rey defended the performance, joking,
02:00"...I am stiff, distant, and weird."
02:03When Sinead O'Connor appeared on SNL in 1992, her second performance was one for the history
02:08books.
02:09It started off good, with the singer standing on stage alone, delivering a stirring, voice-only
02:12interpretation of Bob Marley's anti-child abuse song, War.
02:16But at the song's end, O'Connor held up a photo of Pope John Paul II and tore it to
02:20bits, saying,
02:21"...Fight the real enemy!"
02:23With that move, O'Connor made it clear who and what she was protesting.
02:27Using War as a platform, she aimed to address the Catholic Church and its alleged misdeeds
02:31against children.
02:32But the singer had gone rogue.
02:34During a dress rehearsal, O'Connor held up a picture of a child and made a statement
02:37about protection, but she didn't tear up the image.
02:40The crew in the control booth were so stunned by the act that they refused to turn on the
02:43applause sign, which explained the shocked silence following O'Connor's performance.
02:47In the days that followed, NBC fielded numerous complaints from upset viewers, and multiple
02:52Catholic organizations demanded an apology from NBC.
02:55NBC Vice President Curtis Block ultimately told the AP that the network did not approve
02:59of O'Connor's actions and would never have allowed it.
03:02In 2004, Ashlee Simpson was the pop singer everyone was talking about.
03:06In addition to having a popular MTV reality show, her debut single, Pieces of Me, became
03:11a top-five hit.
03:12Simpson performed Pieces of Me on SNL in October of that year, but when she returned for her
03:16second song, something bizarre happened.
03:18Simpson's disembodied voice suddenly blared from the studio's speakers, singing Pieces
03:22of Me once again.
03:23It quickly became apparent that Simpson had been lip-syncing earlier, and somehow, the
03:27track she had used got replayed by mistake.
03:30Visibly embarrassed, Simpson danced an odd little jig, and the broadcast cut to an emergency
03:34commercial.
03:35In the closing moments of the show, Simpson blamed the snafu on her musicians, saying,
03:39In the aftermath, Simpson's manager and father, Joe Simpson, told the media that she had to
03:48lip-sync because an acid reflux attack destroyed her voice.
03:51In 2024, however, the singer had changed her story, saying it was actually vocal cord nodules
03:55that caused the issue.
03:57In the 1990s, no hip-hop group was more outspoken about their love of weed than Cypress Hill.
04:02This was best exemplified in their 1993 hit, Insane in the Brain, which landed them a musical
04:07guest spot on SNL in October of that year.
04:09The group performed the song in their first slot, which went without incident.
04:13But for their second performance of I Ain't Going Out Like That, the group had a different
04:16plan.
04:17We were going to smash our equipment like the Who, because we were doing that on tour.
04:21Once their gear was smashed up, DJ Muggs was going to light up a joint.
04:24However, the group was explicitly told not to do that.
04:27Cypress Hill member Sendog told The Village Voice,
04:29It wasn't just the Saturday Night Live people saying he couldn't smoke up on air.
04:33It was everyone — our record label, our management, our friends.
04:36Instead, a defiant DJ Muggs decided to open the song with a joint rather than close with
04:40it.
04:41They told us we couldn't smoke this f----- joint, bop, bop, bop, but we ain't going out
04:44like that.
04:45Boom!
04:47The group later found out that it had been permanently banned from the show.
04:50An April 1996 episode of SNL featured an unlikely duo, billionaire industrialist and Republican
04:56presidential candidate Steve Forbes as host and far-left rap metal band Rage Against the
05:00Machine as the musical guest.
05:02It was a combination made for live TV chaos.
05:05I'm Steve Forbes, and I'm human.
05:08That's right, I am human, just like you.
05:12Rage was promoting its album, Evil Empire, and was allowed to decorate the stage however
05:16it liked.
05:17It took full advantage, hanging upside-down American flags, a highly political gesture
05:21symbolizing the U.S. as a nation in distress.
05:23After a rehearsal, however, SNL ordered the band to remove the flags, seeing as they potentially
05:28upset sponsors.
05:29Rage did get rid of the flags, but with 30 seconds to go before their live performance
05:33of Bulls on Parade, their crew returned the upside-down flags to the stage.
05:37This led to a physical altercation between Rage's crew and SNL's stagehands.
05:41Rage guitarist Tom Morello told People's Party with Talib Kweli,
05:44We've informed our crew guys, defend the flags.
05:47The band ultimately played on a flag-free stage.
05:50As soon as they were done, an SNL producer told Rage's tour manager that the band had
05:54to leave.
05:55They would never get to perform a second song.
05:58The Red Hot Chili Peppers were around for close to a decade before they found mainstream
06:01success with their multi-platinum fifth album, 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magic.
06:06The album produced the hit singles, Under the Bridge and Give It Away, which the band's
06:09guitarist John Frusciante wasn't too happy about.
06:13In Anthony Kiedis' autobiography, Scar Tissue, he recalled Frusciante telling him,
06:17We're too popular.
06:18I don't need to be at this level of success.
06:19So Frusciante rebelled by carrying out a public act of sabotage.
06:23When the band performed Under the Bridge on SNL, Frusciante played abysmally, and according
06:27to Kiedis, it was done intentionally.
06:29Kiedis wrote in his book,
06:30I've since heard that John was on heroin during the show, and he might as well have been on
06:33another planet, because he started playing some s---- I'd never heard before.
06:36I had no idea what song he was playing or what key he was in.
06:40Frusciante later claimed that he was experimenting with the song, but Kiedis wasn't buying it,
06:44writing,
06:45Well, we weren't.
06:46We were on live TV in front of millions of people, and it was torture.
06:49In January 1986, indie rockers The Replacements brought their infamous drunken antics to SNL,
06:55turning their fuzzy garage rock performance into a televised disaster.
06:59Despite SNL having a no-alcohol rule on show days, the band got one of their technicians
07:03to sneak drinks into the studio.
07:05From there, the band spent most of the evening drinking and were too wasted to get through
07:08Bastards of Young without any problems.
07:11Lead vocalist Paul Westerberg wandered away from the mic mid-verse, while bassist Tommy
07:15Stinson stumbled on stage.
07:17Guitarist Bob Stinson was also playing sloppy, so Westerberg yelled to him,
07:20Come on, s----!
07:21The F-word aired uncensored, as did a flash of Bob Stinson's rear end after he tore his
07:26pants while trying to do a somersault.
07:27The Replacements never played on SNL again.
07:30However, a much calmer and sober Westerberg was the musical guest in a 1993 episode.
07:36Since NBC is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, the network's censor can mute
07:40the network's audio feed if a musical guest starts dropping F-bombs.
07:43Case in point?
07:44System of a Down's 2005 SNL appearance.
07:47During the band's performance, singer Serge Tankian said the F-word several times while
07:51singing B-Y-O-B, all of which got censored.
07:54However, when guitarist Darren Malekane yelled out,
07:56F---- yeah!
07:57The censor missed it.
07:58NBC didn't receive any complaints from SNL viewers, but an executive did issue a statement
08:03decrying System of a Down for the incident.
08:05The band was permanently banned from the show as a result.
08:08In the late 1970s, Saturday Night Live was one of the few places on TV where you could
08:13catch daring punk and new wave acts like Elvis Costello.
08:16On a December 1977 episode, Costello played watching the detectives in the first slot
08:20without any issue.
08:21But when he started playing his second song, Less Than Zero, the singer yelled to his band
08:25to stop.
08:26I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, there's no reason to do this song here.
08:29Costello and his band then tore through Radio Radio.
08:31It was an awkward bit of live television, but also an act of punk-flavored protest against
08:36the powers that be.
08:37Radio Radio is a pointed criticism of corporate media and how it can be used to control the
08:41masses, which is why Lorne Michaels pleaded with Costello not to perform it.
08:45Costello did anyway and got banned from SNL for more than a decade as a result.
08:49However, the band was lifted in 1989 when he returned as a musical guest.
08:53In the late 1970s and early 1980s, bands like Fear helped shape and define LA's loud and
08:58angry punk scene.
09:00Former SNL cast member John Belushi was a huge fan of the group and convinced the show's
09:04producer Dick Ebershaw to book them as a musical guest for the Halloween episode in October
09:091981.
09:10But seeing as they were a rebellious punk band, Fear wasn't going to just play some
09:13aggressive punk tunes and call it a day.
09:15Instead, the group put on a wildly raucous show, which featured a mob of violent slam
09:20dancers.
09:21The dancers knocked into members of the audience, the crew, and the stage equipment, leaving
09:24extensive damage in their wake.
09:26SNL never played the band's full performance, instead cutting to a pre-taped sketch starring
09:30Eddie Murphy, which Ebershaw arranged in case of an emergency.
09:33Fear never appeared on SNL again.