All the Celebs Who Are Rumored to Be Banned From ‘SNL’

Photo credit: NBC - Getty Images
Photo credit: NBC - Getty Images
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You know that rumored list of celebrities banned from Saturday Night Live? Yeah, well, turns out there’s some truth to it. A bunch of famous actors, comedians, and musical guests have found themselves on Lorne Michaels’s banned list over the years for various reasons, some of which are truly ???? We’re taking a look at the celebs who aren’t allowed anywhere near the SNL stage—and the celebs who are rumored to be banned but actually are not!

Adrien Brody

Photo credit: NBC - Getty Images
Photo credit: NBC - Getty Images

Oscar winner Adrien Brody hosted SNL in 2003 and inexplicably did an unscripted and offensive impression of musical guest Sean Paul—during which he wore faux dreadlocks. Michaels reportedly banned him as a result, which, yep.

Chevy Chase

Chevy was an original member of the SNL cast and went on to host the show tons of times. But behind the scenes, his behavior was allegedly pretty ick, which is apparently what lead him to be banned by Michaels. In 2018, Chevy told the Washington Post that SNL “went downhill” once he left (kay!), so it sounds like he isn’t that interested in hosting again anyway.

Samuel L. Jackson

There were reports that Samuel L. Jackson was banned from SNL due to swearing on live TV during the below sketch. But that isn’t true! Apparently, Samuel ran into Michaels on an elevator recently and straight-up asked, “Are you ever gonna let me back on the show?” Michaels responded, “You’re not banned!”

Kanye West

Photo credit: NBC - Getty Images
Photo credit: NBC - Getty Images

There were reports floating around that Kanye was banned from Saturday Night Live due to his drama with Pete Davidson, but an Us Weekly source confirmed that this is not the case. There are no known plans for Ye to return as a musical guest anytime soon, but clearly he’s not not invited.

Sinéad O’Connor

I mean, we all know this story. Sinéad showed up to perform on SNL and ripped a photo of the pope in half.

Everyone flipped TF out, and the next week, host Joe Pesci showed up with a taped-up version of the pic. It was all just a lot!

Martin Lawrence

Martin Lawrence was allegedly banned from SNL in 1994 after his opening monologue veered off from what was written/rehearsed/approved into random musings about feminine hygiene.

But he’s since said he wasn’t banned from SNL, he was merely banned from NBC. As he recently told Charlamagne tha God, “I don’t give a damn. I’m not banned from SNL. They banned me from NBC at the time for a minute. But then they realized the way it went down wasn’t what they thought and then they sent me an apology letter.”

Cypress Hill

Apparently, Michaels wasn’t super into DJ Muggs lighting up a joint onstage when Cypress Hill played in 1993. But they continue to have no fucks to give.

“I kind of like the fact that we’re banned,” Sen Dog recently said. “The whole thing about being banned, it’s punk rock in itself. I would like to leave it like that. If the guys wanted to do it, then that’d be something we could talk about or whatever, but I kind of like that idea of being the outlaws that are not allowed around town.”

B Real added, “I don’t mind the ban aspect of it because, you know, we’re in the company of some greats that have been banned, and that’s okay with us.”

Rage Against the Machine

Michaels clearly isn’t here for people using their SNL platform to protest, because Revolver magazine reports that Rage Against the Machine was banned after they attempted to hang American flags upside down in protest of host Steve Forbes. The show removed the flags and apparently wouldn’t let the band play their second song.

Anyway, here’s a clip of them playing that is super sped up for reasons unknown:

System of a Down

Far Out magazine reports that System of a Down got banned in 2005 because they yelled “Fuck yeah!” without giving producers notice. Seems pretty mild so…take it with a grain of salt!

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