Sinead O'Connor was banned from Saturday Night Live after protesting the Pope
It only took a second, but Sinead O'Connor 's defiant protest got her banned from Saturday Night Live and infuriated the Catholic Church.
The incident happened while Sinead was the musical guest on the sketch comedy show on October 3, 1992. In the now infamous clip, Sinead was performing a cover of Bob Marley's song War a cappella. She sang the line: "We have confidence in good over evil," holding up a photo of then Pope John Paul II as she spoke the word 'evil'.
Without hesitation, the then 25-year-old stared at the camera and ripped the picture into pieces. She threw them at the camera and said: "Fight the real enemy."
Sinead ripped up a picture of the pope on live television (NBC/youtube)Her reasoning for going after the Pope and Catholic Church was to protest against the sexual abuse of children in the church that was trying to be suppressed by the church. Pope John Paul II wasn't saying anything about it, and wouldn't until nine years after Sinead's performance.
Some sources say the photo she tore up was one that hung on her mother's wall since John Paul II became pope in 1978.
Sinéad O’Connor, 56, has died 18 months after her son's tragic death
Saturday Night Live claims that they knew nothing about this protest, that in the dress rehearsal she held up a photo of a refugee child and did not rip it up. The backlash Sinead faced was immediate.
The live studio audience went completely silent after her protest, and SNL creator Lorne Michaels said "The air went out of the studio" afterwards.
Sinead was performing a cover of Bob Marley's song War (NBC/youtube)The then vice president of NBC, the network SNL runs on, said he "literally jumped out of his chair" when he saw what Sinead did. NBC received over 4,400 calls in the coming days, with only seven not about Sinead's act.
The late singer said she was inspired by Bob Geldof, who ripped up a photo of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John after his song beat theirs on the number-one charts in England.
"I thought, 'Yeah f**k! What if someone ripped up a picture of the pope?' Half of me was just like: 'Jesus, I'd love to just see what'd happen."
In Sinead's 2021 book Rememberings, she spoke of the incident, writing: "Everyone wants a pop star, see? But I am a protest singer. I just had stuff to get off my chest. I had no desire for fame."
Sinead was not shy about speaking her mind during her career. She frequently spoke out about child abuse, human rights, anti-racism, organised religion, and feminism.
On July 26 it was announced that Sinead passed away at the age of 56. She rose to fame with her cover of Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U.
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