Kevin Spacey hosted twice.
I think that Clay was only considered “controversial” because his appearance was at the same time as an HBO Comic Relief special - well, that, and Sinead O’Connor declined to be the musical guest that week, plus that chant from some protestors in the crowd (Clay paused his monologue for it - in fact, he pretty much signaled them to start by putting on a jacket from one of his specials - but the audio was turned down so you could barely hear them, and you could then hear a fan or two of his in the crowd supporting him).
One that I consider to be controversial: Louise Lasser - IIRC, it got to the point where she was in only one sketch, plus the opening and closing monologues (closing monologues were a regular feature in the first season). I think it was made out to be more controversial than it was; I am convinced that the entire opening monologue incident, where she panicked and went back into her dressing room, was planned that way the entire time - either that, or it was an incredible coincidence that she came out at exactly the right moment to say, “We’ll be right back.” Reportedly, she and Milton Berle are the only two hosts that not only would Lorne Michaels say he would never invite back, but made it a point to not air their episodes in reruns; I’m not sure they were even made available on video.
It wasn’t just some scheduling issue or retrospective changes in public opinion. Clay was considered to be misogynist at the time. Cast member Nora Dunn refused to appear in the episode Clay hosted.
She didn’t just refuse to appear on that episode, she quit the show altogether because of Clay hosting.
Al Gore hosted the show. Did he have enough personality to be controversial?
Since OJ is the theme, I checked and found 32 other athletes had hosted, including the famed cheater Lance Armstrong.
At the time in 2004, musical guest Ashlee Simpson’s (no relation) botched lip syncing was a big deal. I thought her little guilt jig at the end was kind of cute.
Steven Seagal. I’ve heard more bad stories about his hosting than anyone. Far Out Magazine:
Seagal hosted the show on April 20th, 1991 , and gave perhaps the most excruciatingly painful performance as host. In fact, it was so outright car-crash terrible that Lorne Michaels, a man famed for his strict control over the show, labelled him the “worst host ever”.
Not a host but when Dakota Johnson hosted earlier this year, Dave Chappelle appeared on stage at the close. Bowen Yang, for one, looked really uncomfortable and stayed on the other side of the stage.
and of all the people who have both hosted the show and run for president, he had to be the one to win.
He does bear a resemblance to one of the show’s more frequent hosts:
Some years later, Nicholas Cage hosted, and started the monologue intentionally ineptly (over the top sexist comments IIRC). When someone (Lorne?) pulled him aside on-camera and told him he needed to tone it down, Cage became contrite and apologetic: “Gosh, I’m so sorry! You must think I’m the worst host ever!”
Lorne replied, “No. That would be Steven Seagall”.
how I first heard about him was hed just been banned from MTV permanently for doing the nursery rhyme bit on the Music Awards which was live…
then he was famous for about 2 years in which he had been called the most over hyped SNL host in recent memory and after Ford Fairlane came out and flopped he disappeared until the late 90s trying out a short-lived sitcom saying he changed his ways only to say “Just kidding” After the sitcom flopped also
Martin Lawrence spent a portion of his opening monologue making crude comments about feminine hygiene, which were replaced in subsequent airings with an onscreen message summarizing the routine in family-friendly language and noting that it “nearly cost us all our jobs.” He’s never been invited back.
Yeah, and for anyone who didn’t see the SNL episode with Musk, just watch any interview with him. It was the same weirdness.
There was controversy around Sam Kinison hosting in '86; a couple episodes earlier he’d done a stand-up routine as a guest and told a couple of jokes about drugs and the Crucifixion that had not been cleared with NBC and have been censored out of all rebroadcasts since.
That’s not my understanding. Dunn only refused to appear on the episode where Clay hosted. She was back on the show the following week (when Candice Bergen hosted).
But the Bergen episode was the final show of the fifteenth season. And Lorne Michaels decided to make some cast changes during the off-season, one of which was letting Dunn go.
I’ve heard that Michaels was also very upset with Frank Zappa when he hosted. Zappa apparently didn’t take the show very seriously and mugged at the camera and went off-script during its broadcast.
I think there’s probably a meaningful distinction between bad hosts (Milton Berle, Louise Lasser, Steven Seagal) and controversial hosts.
I have heard that the show that Frank Zappa hosted is also unavailable on video.
There was also the 1988 program where musician Paul Simon was the host, and presidential candidate Paul Simon walked out with him at the beginning of the show.
“I thought they wanted me!”
“Really? I thought they wanted me instead!”