In its 45 seasons, Saturday Night Live has seen its fair share of controversy. After all, who can’t recall Ashlee Simpson and her infamous lip-synching debacle, complete with ill-timed jig, or Sinead O’Connor ripping up a picture of Pope John Paul II on live TV, or the current president snagging a hosting gig despite protests right outside the studio doors?
Airing live means that many things can go wrong, but sometimes, SNL manages to court controversy in its pre-taped segments! That means music videos, satirical commercials, and film trailers all pass through plenty of edits and watchful eyes who deem them acceptable, only for the public to declare them anything but. Aside from the monologues and musical guests, these 15 controversial SNL sketches actually managed to make it to air – even if they were later pulled from repeat broadcasts.
15 Chevy Chase’s Word Association Was Racially Charged
1975 was a different time, and it saw actor Chevy Chase spew the n-word in a sketch that saw the comedian interviewing legend Richard Pryor for a janitorial job. It was heralded as groundbreaking by Rolling Stone in a retrospective, but the response would certainly be a lot different if it aired today!
14 Cast Members Stripped Down In ‘88
You know that childish game where you yell out a certain part of the male anatomy louder and louder? That was basically this sketch from 1988 called “Nude Beach”. Alongside host Matthew Broderick, the cast managed to utter the offending word no less than 40 times as they were covertly covered by a cane fence.
13 Chippendales Wasn’t Beloved By Cast Members
While “Chippendales” may be an iconic sketch in SNL history, it wasn’t a fave among cast members. In 1996, six years after it aired, Chris Farley said, “Although I love this kind of comedy, sometimes I feel trapped by always having to be the most outrageous guy in the room.” Chris Rock also admitted to hating the sketch, and the body-shaming hasn’t aged well.
12 Wayne’s World Mocked Chelsea Clinton
In 1992, Chelsea Clinton was all of 12 years old, but that didn’t stop Dana Carvey and Mike Myers from going in on her as their “Wayne’s World” characters. Wayne (Myers) announced that “adolescence has thus far been unkind” to Clinton. The Clintons' disapproval of the joke saw the sketch removed from subsequent broadcasts, and an apology letter sent to the White House.
11 1994’s Canteen Boy Goes Camping Made People Turn Off The TV
The “Canteen Boy” sketch saw Adam Sandler’s juvenile character receive unwanted advances from his older, hairy scoutmaster, played by Alec Baldwin. Chicago Times critic Richard Roeper received several complaints about the sketch from viewers, including the Boy Scouts of America. SNL reruns added a disclaimer stating that Sandler was 27 years old.
10 Jenny Slate’s Potty Mouth Came Out
It was Jenny Slate’s first-ever episode on Saturday Night Live and she went out with a bang – or, rather, and F-word. Alongside Kristen Wiig and Megan Fox, the trio were repeatedly saying 'frickin' until Slate let the real thing slip. She was pulled from shows and fired before her year was up.
9 Andy Samberg And Justin Timberlake Got In Trouble With A Music Video
While an iconic song now, Samberg And Timberlake’s holiday ditty from 2006 earned the network and the FCC a huge number of complaints upon airing! One viewer from Florida wrote that the sketch was offensive to children, men, women, and Christmas. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but the tongue-in-cheek song is a classic!
8 Rainn Wilson And Co. Angered Down’s Syndrome Advocates
In 2007, The Office’s Rainn Wilson was getting his first try at the NBC stage, and all went well until the sketch called “Danny’s Song”. In it, a bar patron is discussing his father, only for the punchline to be that he has Down’s Syndrome. Jon Colman, CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society criticized the sketch, which led to the words being bleeped in later broadcasts.
7 Tiger Woods’ Accident Made Light Of Domestic Violence
2009 saw Blake Lively as Elin Nordegren and Kenan Thompson as Tiger Woods in a sketch that saw a battered Thompson give a press conference alongside his golf club-wielding wife. Thompson was repeatedly beaten off-camera, and the sketch prompted the executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence to say she was “horrified” at the “mockery of abuse”.
6 Blind People Were Teased On Weekend Update
Between 2008 and 2010, Fred Armisen decided it would be extra funny to roast New York Governor David Paterson, who is legally blind. His appearances on “Weekend Update” saw such comedy gems as having him run into furniture. Paterson wasn’t amused, and his office stated that the show, “imply that disabled people are incapable of having jobs with serious responsibilities.”
