These Saturday Night Live hosts and guests prove (the hard way) that on live television, anything can happen. Each one did something profane or outrageous enough to be told not to come back.
And as many fans of SNL know, the good ones always come back. Take Alec Baldwin, for example. He hosted 17 times so far. So let’s see which hosts and guests have been banned from SNL…
Steven Seagal
After hosting the show on April 20, 1991 episode, Steven Seagal went from being a top action star to what “SNL” producer Lorne Michaels called “the biggest jerk to ever be on the show.” Ouch. Seagal allegedly wasn’t playing nice with the cast and crew, which clearly angered Michaels.
Seagal was almost axed from hosting the show, with Michaels even preferring to have an episode without a host. But in the end, he was just (unsurprisingly) never invited back. I wonder what he did that was so bad!
Sinéad O’Connor
After she performed the Bob Marley song “War,” Sinéad O’Connor created one of the most notorious SNL moments of all time. She basically started her own protest against the Catholic Church by changing the lyrics of the song to talk about child abuse.
She even tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II at the end of her performance. As she told the silent and shocked crowd to “fight the real enemy,” the camera just panned away. And guess what? Sinéad O’Connor was never invited back. How shocking. She was also edited out of repeats of the show.
Andy Kaufman
At the time, Kaufman was a semi-regular on the show. But the notable comedian was banned from the show on November 20, 1982, and not by the producers, but by the fans! NBC received too many complaints about the comedian, leading the network to make a vote.
The poll allowed fans to call in and vote via a 1-900 number on whether or not Kaufman should be allowed to remain on the show or be banned forever. Fans spoke up, and Kaufman never returned to the Saturday Night Live again.
Adrien Brody
Adrien Brody went off-script when he hosted SNL on May 10, 2003, after scrapping all the “good” ideas for sketches all week in the writer’s meetings. The Oscar winner did a skit where he donned dreadlocks and a pretty bad accent when portraying Jamaican performer Sean Paul.
That performance drew dirty looks and resulted in a permanent ban from the show which was called by producer Lorne Michaels. I gotta say, it’s pretty shocking to hear, considering Brody is such a renowned actor.
Chevy Chase
Although Chevy Chase was a former and popular original cast member, the acclaimed actor received a “soft ban” on Saturday Night Live back on February 15, 1997. The story goes that Chase had trouble getting along with the rest of the cast members during his hosting gigs.
He was ultimately banned from returning to host again. But despite the restriction, Chase returned to his old anchor desk during the segment Weekend Update, even after the ban in 2007. What a rebel.