10 Most Controversial Saturday Night Live Skits & Moments Of All Time (2025)

Saturday Night Live is one of the longest-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 multiple specials about Saturday Night Live's anniversary coming 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 Night was 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" of Saturday Night Live (referring to season 11 of the show), but SNL has received much more significant backlash for some of its decisions than it did for that unpopular season. Of all the controversial sketches from Saturday Night Live's 50 years, these caused the most significant backlash of all.

10 "Nude Beach" Outraged Audiences At The Time

Year: 1988

"Nude Beach" premiered on Saturday Night Live on October 15th, 1988, and featured actor Matthew Broderick and SNL cast 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" far exceeded what audiences were comfortable with, as SNL reportedly 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 biggest SNL controversies, but, at the time, this episode received significant backlash.

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9 Jason Sudeikis' Jesus Impression Offended Many Christian Viewers

Year: 2011

On December 17th, 2011, SNL cast 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 that SNL would 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.

8 Chris Farley & Patrick Swayze's "Chippendales Audition" Sketch Has Been Accused Of Body Shaming

Year: 1990

On October 27th, 1990, SNL cast 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 movie Dirty Dancing (1987). However, many have pointed out that the 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 sketch extended to comics as well, with SNL alumnus 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 in SNL's history.

7 "Canteen Boy" Depicted Predatory Behavior Towards Boy Scouts

Year: 1994

Actor Alex Baldwin and SNL cast 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 Live received 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 by SNL. To date, this remains one of the most controversial and least liked of SNL's sketches.

6 Kenan Thompson And Blake Lively's Tiger Woods Sketch Was Seen As Making Light Of Domestic Violence

Year: 2009

In 2009, actress Blake Lively and SNL cast 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 as Saturday Night Live making 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, beloved The Office actor Rainn Wilson appeared as the celebrity guest on Saturday 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, SNL cast 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.

4 "Father Daughter Ad" Joked About A Father Dropping His Daughter Off To Join ISIS

Year: 2015

One of the more recent additions on this list, "Father Daughter Ad," aired in 2015 and starred actress Dakota Johnson and SNL cast 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.

3 Chevy Chase Used A Racial Slur In "Word Association"

Year: 1975

In the show's very first year on air, 1975, Chevy Chase appeared in a Saturday Night Live sketch titled "Word Association," alongside Richard Pryor. In the sketch, Chase uses a racial slur, immediately making this one of SNL's most controversial sketches to date. Surprisingly, this sketch has a more complicated reception than one might think.

In 2014, Rolling Stone named this as one of the best SNL sketches of all time. In fact, Rolling Stone ranked 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 favorite Saturday Night Live sketches in 2019, according to popculture.com. As nuanced as the responses may be, though, this is undoubtedly one of the most controversial SNL sketches of all time, and it's unlikely to ever lose that standing.

This is undoubtedly one of the most controversial SNL sketches of all time, and it's unlikely to ever lose that standing.

2 Jimmy 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 personality Jimmy Fallon, who was an SNL cast member at the time, impersonated SNL alumnus 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 with The 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 controversial SNL sketches of all time because of Fallon's use of blackface.

1 Louis C.K.'s Jokes About Child Molestation Are Considered Among The Most Offensive SNL Moments

Year: 2015

The single most controversial Saturday Night Live sketch 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, per The New York Times, confirmed the accusations were true. There have been a number of sketches in SNL's long history that have caused significant controversy. However, to date, the most controversial Saturday Night Live sketch of them all is arguably Louis C.K.'s unsettling monologue.

10 Most Controversial Saturday Night Live Skits & Moments Of All Time (2025)
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