The only thing that could make a scandal even more salacious is to involve millions and millions of dollars, which would explain the rumor that quickly began circulating after Sinead O’Connor’s infamous SNL incident, which took place on October 3, 1992. Although it only lasted a few moments, O’Connor’s actions have gone down in Saturday Night Live! history as one of the most controversial things ever to happen on the live sketch comedy show. But the most expensive thing? Not quite.
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The October 3, 1992, episode of Saturday Night Live featured Tim Robbins as the host and O’Connor as the musical guest. After performing a rendition of Bob Marley’s “War”, the Irish singer looked into the camera, said, “Fight the real enemy,” and pulled out a picture of Pope John Paul, which she tore into pieces. NBC cut to a commercial immediately after, but the damage was done. Journalists would later describe the audience’s reaction as stunned and silent. The television network reportedly received over 4,000 calls in protest against O’Connor.
Her protest against sexual abuse in the Catholic church also garnered criticism from her fellow musicians, including a particularly angry Frank Sinatra, who threatened violence against O’Connor over her acts of defiance more than once. However, one of the most notable parts of this infamous story is that NBC was on the hook for millions of dollars because of O’Connor’s actions. This is also the part of the story that’s the least true.
The Part of Sinead O’Connor’s Infamous ‘SNL’ Incident People Get Wrong
Sinead O’Connor’s protest against Pope John Paul and the Catholic church on SNL was, for better or worse, a cultural phenomenon. Some praised O’Connor, standing by her right to speak up against abuse and mistreatment. Kris Kristofferson was famously in the pro-Sinead camp. Other critics, among them American crooner Frank Sinatra, denounced O’Connor for her actions. A popular part of this infamous story is that the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, fined NBC $2.5 million for leaving O’Connor’s photo-ripping sequence on-air. The story seems plausible, as the FCC is the governmental body responsible for doling out fines to broadcasters who air obscene, indecent, or profane content.
Nevertheless, disagreement does not always obscenity make. If O’Connor had dropped the F-bomb, flipped the bird to the camera, or engaged in other universally indecent behavior, then the FCC might have been able to administer a fine to Saturday Night Live’s broadcasting network, NBC. But she didn’t. What O’Connor did was blasphemous, perhaps, but not profane. Her actions certainly made her a divisive figure in the pop culture world, but NBC wasn’t paying for it. She was.
Ultimately, Sinead O’Connor’s SNL incident would loom over her head for the rest of her life. Her relationship to the cultural moment fluctuated over the years. In some interviews, she called her actions “ridiculous” and “the gesture of a girl rebel.” In others, O’Connor insisted, “Sometimes, we want to challenge the people we love, and sometimes, we want to rattle the bars because we see them going down the drain unless they face particular issues. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t actually an angry act, although I can see, of course, why people would think it was. It was actually an act of love.”
Photo by: Alan Singer/NBCU Photo Bank
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