Saturday Night Liveis one of thelongest-running television shows of all time, but it has caused quite a bit of controversy throughout its 50 years on screen. 2025 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the popular comedy show, and there are multiplespecials aboutSaturday Night Live’sanniversarycoming out in January and February of this year. One of them,SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, was just released and touches upon some of the most iconic and oddest moments from the show.
SNL50: Beyond Saturday Nightwas primarily focused on celebrating the history and achievements of the show rather than on identifying the controversies and scandals that have taken place over the show’s several decades, though. The docuseries did explore the"weird year"ofSaturday Night Live(referring to season 11 of the show), butSNLhas received much more significant backlash for some of its decisions than it did for that unpopular season.Of all the controversial sketches fromSaturday Night Live’s50 years, these caused the most significant backlash of all.
10"Nude Beach" Outraged Audiences At The Time
Year: 1988
“Nude Beach” premiered onSaturday Night Liveon October 15th, 1988, and featured actor Matthew Broderick andSNLcast members Kevin Nealon, Dana Carvey, John Lovitz, and Dennis Miller. As the title of the sketch suggests, “Nude Beach” involved the cast vacationing on a nude beach. Of course, given this was aired on TV, no actual nudity was shown.
What audience members mainly took issue with regarding this sketch was its persistent reference to genitalia. Evidently, the sketch’s 40 total uses of the word"penis"farexceeded what audiences were comfortable with, asSNLreportedly received tens of thousands of complaints about this sketch in particular. Given the controversies that have happened since, this sketch doesn’t rank at the top of the list in terms of the biggestSNLcontroversies, but, at the time, this episode received significant backlash.
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9Jason Sudeikis' Jesus Impression Offended Many Christian Viewers
Year: 2011
On December 17th, 2011,SNLcast member Taran Killam and actor Jason Sudeikis played Tim Tebow and Jesus, respectively, in the “Locker Room” sketch. In the sketch, Jesus tells Tebow that he should focus a bit less on praying and a bit more on his gameplay, although he confirms he has been helping the Denver Broncos as a result of Tebow’s prayers. The sketch also threw in a joke at the end about Mormonism being completely accurate.
The “Locker Room” sketch offended many Christian viewers, with various Christian groups and religious leaders speaking out about the alleged bigotry. The controversy was primarily two-fold, first with the idea thatSNLwould impersonate Jesus at all, and then because many felt the sketch was mocking Tebow for his religion and his choice to pray. Nearly 15 years later, this moment is still called out as one of the most controversial in the show’s history.
8Chris Farley & Patrick Swayze’s “Chippendales Audition” Sketch Has Been Accused Of Body Shaming
Year: 1990
On October 27th, 1990,SNLcast member Chris Farley and Hollywood star Patrick Swayze performed the sketch “Chippendales Audition,” which saw both men auditioning for the burlesque dance group of the same name. This was an obvious play off of Swayze’s very recent role as Johnny Castle in the now cult classic movieDirty Dancing(1987). However, many have pointed out thatthe sketch leaned into body shaming as the source of its humor.
The joke, it seems, was that Swayze had the ‘ideal’ body for the burlesque troupe, whereas Farley did not and that, because of that, Farley had no chance of being hired.Hatred for the Chippendales sketchextended to comics as well, withSNLalumnus Chris Rock saying:
“‘Chippendales’ was a weird sketch. I always hated it. The joke of it is basically, ‘We can’t hire you because you’re fat.’ I mean, he’s a fat guy, and you’re going to ask him to dance with no shirt on. OK. That’s enough. You’re gonna get that laugh. But when he stops dancing you have to turn it in his favor. There’s no turn there. There’s no comic twist to it. It’s just f**king mean.”
For the very reasons Rock voiced, this sketch remains an unpopular and problematic one inSNL’shistory.
7"Canteen Boy" Depicted Predatory Behavior Towards Boy Scouts
Year: 1994
Actor Alex Baldwin andSNLcast member (at the time) Adam Sandler starred in the highly controversial sketch “Canteen Boy” on February 12th, 1994. In the sketch, Sandler plays a boy in the Boy Scouts, and Baldwin plays the scoutmaster. Throughout the sketch, Baldwin makes increasingly disturbing sexual advances towards Sandler, which includes, at one point, Baldwin ripping off his shirt and ends with the two in a sleeping bag together.
Saturday Night Livereceived many complaints about the sketch, with viewers voicing their outrage at the show seemingly making a joke of predatory behavior and victims of child molestation. The Boy Scouts of America organization even commented on the sketch, calling the subject matter"unfunny"and expressing their discontent with the decision bySNL. To date, this remains one of the most controversial and least liked ofSNL’ssketches.
6Kenan Thompson And Blake Lively’s Tiger Woods Sketch Was Seen As Making Light Of Domestic Violence
Year: 2009
In 2009, actress Blake Lively andSNLcast member Kenan Thompson performed together in a sketch about Tiger Woods, with Thompson playing Woods and Lively playing Woods' wife at the time, Elin Nordegren. Throughout the sketch, Thompson appears injured and holds up various signs indicating he has been harmed by his wife, including"I’m scared"and"She is strong.“To many, this read asSaturday Night Livemaking light of domestic violence.
In fact, even the executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence expressed distaste over the sketch, and there was a much broader public outcry at the time as well. To make matters much worse, the musical guest for that episode was Rihanna, who has been very open about her experience of being physically assaulted by her ex, Chris Brown. Brown had also been charged with felony assault for this attack the very year the episode aired.
Brown had also been charged with felony assault for this attack the very year the episode aired.
5"Danny’s Song” Used Down Syndrome As A Punchline
Year: 2007
On February 24th, 2007, belovedThe Officeactor Rainn Wilson appeared as the celebrity guest onSaturday Night Live. Unfortunately, the episode ended up being very controversial because of the sketch titled “Danny’s Song.” In the sketch, which included Wilson and various cast members,SNLcast member at the time Bill Hader had a joke that used Down Syndrome as a punchline.
There was significant backlash to this sketch, with many pointing out the ableism of the joke and the harmful message it conveyed about people with Down Syndrome. This also led to a response from Jon Colman, the CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society, who condemned this treatment of people with Down Syndrome in the sketch. Colman also highlighted that people with Down Syndrome deserve to be respected and celebrated, not treated as a joke.
Year: 2015
One of the more recent additions on this list, “Father Daughter Ad,” aired in 2015 and starred actress Dakota Johnson andSNLcast member Taran Killam. In the sketch,Killam played Johnson’s father, who was dropping her off to join ISIS. It wasn’t clear at first what the premise of the skit was going to be, as it was played as little more than a father and daughter saying goodbye to one another under typical circumstances.
The character’s departure was revealed to be anything but typical, however, and this reveal came in the form of a jarring joke (which only caused even more outrage). As though she was going off to do something mundane, the sketch went so far as to have Johnson deliver the line,“Dad, it’s just ISIS,“seemingly making light of the situation that much more. There was intense backlash to this sketch, and it remains one of the most controversial even now.
3Chevy Chase Used A Racial Slur In “Word Association”
Year: 1975
In the show’s very first year on air, 1975, Chevy Chase appeared in aSaturday Night Livesketch titled “Word Association,” alongside Richard Pryor. In the sketch, Chase uses a racial slur, immediately making this one ofSNL’smost controversial sketches to date. Surprisingly, this sketch has a more complicated reception than one might think.
In 2014,Rolling Stonenamed this as one of the bestSNLsketches of all time. In fact,Rolling Stoneranked it in the top 10 on a list of the top 50 sketches. There has also been a mixed reception from actors even all these years later, such as actor Don Cheadle citing it as one of his favoriteSaturday Night Livesketches in 2019, according topopculture.com. As nuanced as the responses may be, though, this is undoubtedly one of the most controversialSNLsketches of all time, and it’s unlikely to ever lose that standing.
This is undoubtedly one of the most controversialSNLsketches of all time, and it’s unlikely to ever lose that standing.
2Jimmy Fallon Impersonated Chris Rock In Blackface
Year: 2000
Many will be familiar with this controversy, as the video resurfaced and went viral on social media just a few years ago. In 2000, media personalityJimmy Fallon, who was anSNLcast member at the time, impersonatedSNLalumnus Chris Rock in blackface. When the video began circulating online, Fallon was quick to put out an apology, saying"I am very sorry for making this unquestionably offensive decision and thank all of you for holding me accountable.”
Chris Rock has also weighed in on the conversation in the time since. In a 2020 interview withThe New York Times, Rock said:
“Hey, man, I’m friends with Jimmy. Jimmy’s a great guy. And he didn’t mean anything. A lot of people want to say intention doesn’t matter, but it does. And I don’t think Jimmy Fallon intended to hurt me. And he didn’t.”
Even with the discourse around the sketch in more recent years, it’s clear that this will remain one of the most controversialSNLsketches of all time because of Fallon’s use of blackface.
1Louis C.K.’s Jokes About Child Molestation Are Considered Among The Most Offensive SNL Moments
The single most controversialSaturday Night Livesketch to date is Louis C.K.’s 2015 monologue, during which he joked about child molestation, among other things. In addition to making jokes about a child molester not being interested in him when he was growing up, C.K. said that it"must be amazing"for pedophiles, given how much they are willing to risk. This sketch was incredibly controversial and received significant backlash when it first aired.
This was made all the worse when, just a few years later, C.K. was accused of sexual misconduct and, perThe New York Times, confirmed the accusations were true. There have been a number of sketches inSNL’slong history that have caused significant controversy. However, to date, the most controversialSaturday Night Livesketch of them all is arguably Louis C.K.’s unsettling monologue.
