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First, we’ve to start out with the apparent one which just lately had its one-year anniversary: the Will Smith Oscars slap.
As Chris Rock ready to current the Greatest Documentary Function award, he made a joke about Will’s spouse, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her shaved head. (Pinkett Smith has been open about shaving her head because of alopecia). Will laughed, then bought up on stage and slapped Rock, earlier than returning to his seat and shouting “Hold my spouse’s identify out your fucking mouth!”
Because of the incident, which shocked celebs and viewers alike, Smith (who would go on to win Greatest Actor for King Richard that very same evening) was banned from attending Academy occasions for a decade. He additionally resigned from the Academy.
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One other Oscars mishap occurred all the way in which again in 1974. As David Niven started to introduce Elizabeth Taylor (who was to announce Greatest Image) a person named Robert Opel streaked behind him — fully nude.
Niven made a joke about Opel’s “shortcomings” that really made many suspect that the stunt (and ensuing joke) had been deliberate — although Niven has denied this. Including gas to that concept, Opel was not arrested however as an alternative gave an interview for the press.
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Another Oscars incident in celebration of Oscars season: when La La Land was mistakenly introduced because the Greatest Image winner. The yr was 2017, and the ceremony was nearly over when Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty took the stage to announce the final and most prestigious award of the evening. However because of an envelope mix-up, Dunaway mistakenly introduced the winner as La La Land.
As Beatty shortly got here again to clarify, the cardboard within the envelope had learn Greatest Actress: Emma Stone, La La Land – it was the cardboard for an award Stone had already received earlier within the evening. In Beatty’s second of confusion, he tried to point out the cardboard to co-presenter Dunaway. Dunaway, solely seeing the textual content La La Land, introduced them because the winner. Backstage (and shortly, onstage as nicely) chaos erupted as the error was realized. Moonlight’s producers and forged changed La La Land’s, they usually made their acceptance speech.
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In 2015, Steve Harvey additionally introduced the mistaken winner within the Miss Universe pageant.
5.
Just like the Oscars, we had the Superbowl not too way back, and again in 2004, the soccer match gave us one of the crucial notorious stay snafus of all time: the Janet Jackson nipple flash.
The incident was referred to as an “unrehearsed, unplanned, fully unintentional” wardrobe malfunction, with a consultant for Jackson saying that Timberlake was supposed to tear off that a part of the highest, however that there was imagined to be a bra beneath that as an alternative “collapsed.”
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2004 was a giant yr for stay snafus, apparently — not solely is it the yr of Nipplegate, however it’s additionally the yr Ashlee Simpson was famously caught lip-syncing on Saturday Evening Stay.
When the mistaken monitor started to play (the identical one she’d already carried out), Simpson didn’t sing, and as an alternative did a wierd dance. She later blamed the band earlier than saying she’d misplaced her voice because of acid reflux disorder and was ordered by medical doctors to not sing. The singer’s profession was undoubtedly affected, although it continued.
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In one other controversial SNL efficiency, on Halloween evening 1981, punk band FEAR carried out — and to the shock of producers and viewers at dwelling, they (together with the busload of followers they’d introduced in to be their viewers) began primarily destroying the stage.
The band brought on a reported $200,000 of injury that evening, and the published was lower off earlier than their final track, after one of many followers they introduced screamed, “New York sucks!” into the mic.
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The Replacements have been additionally banned from SNL after Paul Westerberg by accident dropped an f-bomb and Bob Stinson did a somersault that uncovered his naked butt.
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However maybe essentially the most notorious SNL efficiency was when Sinead O’Connor carried out. Final minute, O’Connor had requested to carry out Bob Marley’s “Struggle” a capella as an alternative of “Scarlet Ribbons” as her second quantity. She additionally requested for there to solely be one digicam, and for it to be a close-up of her, so she may maintain up a photograph of a hungry baby and impart on the viewers a message about defending children from baby abuse*. As a substitute, through the stay broadcast, O’Connor held up a photograph of Pope John Paul II, mentioned “battle the true enemy,” and tore up the photograph (to protest baby abuse within the Catholic church) earlier than leaving the stage.
O’Connor’s fame by no means really recovered, and the efficiency was even mocked on future SNL episodes — however some thought it courageous, particularly in a contemporary lens, and Lorne Michaels seemingly has a minimum of a bit of admiration for the act, although it was reported afterward that NBC banned her from the present.
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One final SNL one…when forged member Charles Rocket by accident let the f-word slip in a Dallas-themed sketch within the eleventh episode of Season 6. The second turned much more well-known on reflection; Rocket was fired for the slip-up, and nearly your entire remainder of the forged adopted when the season ended early two episodes later because of a author’s strike.
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One-time competitor of SNL, the stay sketch present, Fridays, aired briefly through the Nineteen Eighties. In a single skit, starring Andy Kaufman and Michael Richards, Kaufman repeatedly broke character and tousled on his strains. This led to an all-out brawl between Kaufman and Richards.
It later got here out that the incident had been staged by Kaufman, however audiences definitely didn’t know that, and neither did the crew members who ran onstage and tried to interrupt up the brawl. The stunt labored, with Fridays co-creator John Moffitt saying it was liable for getting the present renewed for one more season.
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After all, we would be remiss to not point out on this put up the second that began the Taylor Swift Kanye West feud: when Kanye interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech for Greatest Video by a Feminine Artist on the VMAs to say that Beyoncé ought to’ve received as an alternative.
Celebrities, together with Beyoncé, reacted with shock, and far of the viewers booed. Later within the evening, Beyoncé invited Taylor onstage to “have her second” after Bey received Video of the Yr.
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One other iconic VMAs second was Britney Spears and Madonna kissing onstage. Whereas it might appear tame by trendy requirements, again in 2003 the 2 heterosexual pop music icons locking lips unexpectedly on stay TV dominated the information circuit for a very long time and cemented itself as an iconic popular culture second.
Madonna additionally kissed Christina Aguilera moments later (the digicam panned to JT and missed this) — although apparently, it was imagined to be J.Lo, who could not make it because of her filming a film on the time. Apparently, Pink and Gwen Stefani have been additionally requested to be concerned.
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Talking of awards reveals…whereas performing along with Rock of Ages on the 2009 Tony Awards, some viewers have been shocked to note Bret Michaels get hit by a chunk of falling surroundings.
It at first appeared Michaels was nice, with host Neil Patrick Harris joking that Michaels introduced “an entire new which means to headbanging.” Nonetheless, the story turned extra dramatic with time — ten months later, Micheals almost died from a mind hemorrhage he mentioned was associated to the incident.
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Lastly, let’s finish with one the place the movie star wasn’t so fortunate. Tommy Cooper was a Welsh comic and magician who died on stay TV whereas acting on the British selection present Stay from Her Majesty’s. Cooper suffered a coronary heart assault moments after he started a section, however the viewers, believing it was merely part of the sketch, simply laughed as he died.
The present’s host, Jimmy Tarbuck, realized what was occurring and had the present lower to business. The present continued (not one of the performers knew that Cooper was lifeless, solely that he was not feeling nicely, and Tarbuck was instructed he was alright in order that he’d have the ability to end internet hosting the present) whereas makes an attempt have been made to save lots of Cooper. Cooper was delivered to the hospital and pronounced lifeless.
When you’ve ever noticed one thing wild, awkward, or unplanned on stay TV, we wish to hear about it — tell us within the feedback under.
