Comedy 15 People Who Have Been Banned from SNL
As these banned SNL hosts and guests proved the hard way, on live television, anything can happen. These fine actors, comedians, public figures, and musicians each did something so profane, outrageous, or just plain rude that they were banned from the sketch comedy institution of Saturday Night Live for life. Which hosts and musical guests have been banned from SNL?
It might be a surprise that in over 40 years of the show being on the air, only a little over a dozen of the hundreds of performers and guests have been banned. From Sinéad O'Connor's infamous incident with the photo of the Pope, to actors like Steven Seagal acting like jerks, these stars and public figures are all part of an elite group banned from Saturday Night Live.
It's not necessarily a group they wanted to be a part of, but their outrageous behavior, either on stage or behind the scenes (or both), got all these people on the Saturday Night Live banned list. Read through the list below to find out if your favorite SNL host or musical guest has been banned from ever appearing on the show again.
After performing the Bob Marley song "War," singer Sinéad O'Connor created one of the most notorious "SNL" moments of all time. The bald beauty started her own protest against the Catholic Church by changing lyrics in the song to talk about child abuse and tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II at the end of the song. As she told the solemn crowd to "fight the real enemy," the camera panned away.
Sinéad O'Connor was never invited back after the infamous incident, which was edited out of repeats of the show.
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After being slated to host for the April 20, 1991 episode, Steven Seagal went from a top action star to what "SNL" producer Lorne Michaels called the biggest jerk to ever be on the show. Seagal allegedly didn't play nice with the cast and crew, angering Michaels.
Seagal nearly was axed in favor of a host-less show and, unsurprisingly, was never invited back.
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A "SNL" semi-regular at the time, notable comedian Andy Kaufman was banned from the show on November 20, 1982, not by the producers, but by the fans. NBC received numerous complaints about the quirky funny-man, leading the network to allow fans to vote via a 1-900 number if Kaufman should be allowed to remain on the show or be banned for life.
Fans spoke and Kaufman never returned to the "Saturday Night Live" again.
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