Moment Sinead O’Connor sparked global outrage by tearing up picture of the Pope during SNL performance 31 years ago: Stunned the world and offended hundreds of millions of Catholics worldwide
- The Irish music legend sparked global outrage after tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul II live on SNL in 1992
- The 26-year-old pulled the stunt to protest against sexual abuse in the Catholic Church
Singer Sinead O’Connor, whose death was announced earlier on Wednesday, once sparked global outrage for tearing up a photograph of the Pope on live television.
O’Connor, who shot to stardom across the world in 1990 with her heartrending cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U, was performing on Saturday Night Live on October 1992 when she pulled the stunt.
The then 26-year-old singer performed an a cappella rendition of Bob Marley’s ‘War’ to bring attention to the issue of child abuse.
The artist sang the final refrain ‘And we know we shall win/As we are confident in the victory/Of good over evil,’ then held up a picture of Pope John Paul II and tore it to pieces right in front of the single camera.
O’Connor reiterated ‘fight the enemy’ while starring down the barrel of the camera before blowing out the surrounding candles on stage and walked off.
Sinead O’Connor was performing on SNL on October 1992 when she pulled the stunt
The then 26-year-old singer performed an a cappella rendition of Bob Marley’s ‘War’ to bring attention to the issue of child abuse
O’Connor had reportedly told NBC, who hosted the show, that she would hold up a picture of a starving child and make a plea to protect the world’s most vulnerable kids.
However, the singer instead replaced the photograph in order to protest the ongoing issue of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, long before such allegations were widely reported.
The performer recalled in her 2021 memoir, Rememberings, the eerie silence she was greeted with after walking off stage: ‘When I walk backstage, literally not a human being is in sight’ she wrote.
‘All doors have closed. Everyone has vanished. Including my own manager, who locks himself in his room for three days and unplugs his phone.’
The network was inundated with complaints and calls for days about the broadcast.
SNL’s show creator Lorne Michaels allowed O’Connor back on stage at the end of the program to wave goodnight to the audience.
He later added that O’Connor’s action was ‘the bravest possible thing she could do.’
However, on the next SNL the following week distanced itself from the act by having host Joe Pesci reassemble the photograph and tell the audience that had he been present he would have given the singer ‘such a smack’.
The artist held up a picture of Pope John Paul II and tore it to pieces right in front of the single camera
Several weeks later O’Connor once more sang an a capella version of ‘War’, this time on stage at Madison Square Garden in New York during a tribute concert to commemorate Bob Dylan’s 30th year in music.
She was met by a mixture of cheers and boos, but fellow performer Kris Kristofferson emerged from the wings to say ‘Don’t let the b******s’ get you down.’
O’Connor faced considerable backlash in the months after her SNL performance.
There were protests, death threats, cancelled gigs and even a bulldozer used to flatten a pile of her records in Times Square.
Several years later, in 1999, O’Connor caused uproar in Ireland when she became a priestess of the breakaway Latin Tridentine Church – a position that was not recognized by the mainstream Catholic Church.
For many years, she called for a full investigation into the extent of the church’s role in concealing child abuse by clergy.
In 2010, when Pope Benedict XVI apologized to Ireland to atone for decades of abuse, O’Connor condemned the apology for not going far enough and called for Catholics to boycott Mass until there was a full investigation into the Vatican’s role, which by 2018 was making international headlines.
‘People assumed I didn’t believe in God. That’s not the case at all. I’m Catholic by birth and culture and would be the first at the church door if the Vatican offered sincere reconciliation,’ she wrote in the Washington Post in 2010.
O’Connor’s ‘devastated’ family confirmed her death on 26 July, aged 56, following years of mental health.
In a statement, O’Connor’s family said: ‘It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad.
‘Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.’
It comes a year after the mother-of-four’s son Shane, 17, took his life in January 2022 after escaping hospital while on suicide watch.
At the time of her death, the musician, who changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat in 2018 when she converted to Islam, was thought to be spending her time between Co Roscommon, Ireland, and London.
In her last Tweet, O’Connor posted a photo of Shane and said: ‘Been living as undead night creature since. He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul.
‘We were one soul in two halves. He was the only person who ever loved me unconditionally.
‘I am lost in the bardo without him.’
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