In 1992, Sinéad O'Connor made history on "Saturday Night Live" — and earned a lifetime
ban from the show for taking aim at Pope John Paul II and the Catholic Church.
Here's how it happened.
The outspoken singer performed an a cappella rendition of Bob Marley's song "War."
Though Marley's lyrics are more rooted in the conflict that racism creates among humanity,
O'Connor honed in on his claims of overcoming evil for her planned protest.
According to Far Out Magazine, O'Connor's rehearsals didn't reveal her actual plans
— she held up an image of a refugee child instead of the pope.
But during her live, televised performance of the song, the singer ended by holding up
a picture of Pope John Paul II and tearing it to pieces in protest of the widespread
sexual abuse of children that was conducted within and hidden by the Catholic Church.
She did so just as she sang the line,
"We have confidence in good over evil."
"I am trying to fight child abuse, which I believe to be proof of the existence of evil
in the world."
Far Out Magazine quoted NBC Vice President of Late Night Rick Ludwin said that he "literally
jumped out of [his] chair" after seeing the stunt.
The blowback to Sinéad O'Connor's performance and protest started almost immediately when
she left the stage that night in 1992.
As O'Connor wrote in her 2021 memoir "Rememberings,"
"When I walk backstage, literally not a human being is in sight.
All doors have closed.
Everyone has vanished.
Including my own manager, who locks himself in his room for three days and unplugs his phone."
And yet, nobody stopped O'Connor from going back out on stage for "Saturday Night Live's"
obligatory end-of-the-show "thank you" from the host, cast, and musical guest.
In fact, Ultimate Classic Rock reported that "Saturday Night Live" head Lorne Michaels
personally praised O'Connor, and called her actions brave.
Yet, either in response to the deluge of angry phone calls that night and later, internal
studio pressures, and whatever other factors, O'Connor was banned from returning to "Saturday
Night Live" for the rest of her life.
Others were even less forgiving.
Joe Pesci, host for the following week's show, appeared on stage with the pope's picture
that O'Connor had torn, taped back together.
"If it was my show, I would have gave her such a smack."
"SNL" cast member Phil Hartman, meanwhile, went on "Late Night with David Letterman"
the week after O'Connor's performance and spoke out against her actions.
After her performance, O'Connor spoke to Time magazine about the reasoning behind her actions
— effectively pushing back against critics who suggested it was a protest of the Vatican's
views on women's rights, or was rooted in personal anger at Pope John Paul II.
She said,
"It's not the man, obviously — it's the office and the symbol of the organization
that he represents … In Ireland we see our people are manifesting the highest incidence
in Europe of child abuse.
This is a direct result of the fact that they're not in contact with their history as Irish
people and the fact that in the schools, the priests have been beating the s--- out of
the children for years and sexually abusing them."
According to France 24, at the time of O'Connor's performance, Irish priests had yet to face
scrutiny for child abusers in their midst.
In the early 2000s, a Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland report found that Ireland had a
bigger problem at the time with sexual abuse than other regions of Europe or North America.
Sinéad O'Connor's "SNL" performance was arguably what she was best known for until her death,
and stands to this day as a shocking, historic TV moment.
Many considered it the moment O'Connor ruined her career at the peak of her success following
1990's "Nothing Compares 2 U." Ultimate Classic Rock notes that in addition to being banned
from "Saturday Night Live," further fallout from that fateful night saw "protests, death
threats, and canceled gigs" follow her wherever she went.
There was even an O'Connor record-destroying demonstration in Times Square in New York
City, when a bulldozer crushed a pile of her work.
But as far as O'Connor is concerned, the whole thing turned out to be a net plus.
Her fame might have dwindled in the U.S., but not abroad.
And in a "Today" interview with Carson Daly that aired in 2021, O'Connor said that the
"SNL" performance gave her a chance to reinvent herself.
"Sinéad OConnor' was never meant to be a pop star.
I was really a protest singer, you know?"
She was forced to continue performing music to earn a living rather than rest on the laurels
of success, and she preferred things that way.
The incident also gave her a chance to separate herself from her abusive childhood because
the picture of the pope had belonged to her mother.
She said, referring to her mother,
"It was a way of ripping her up, as well, I guess."