When Sinead O’Connor tore up a photo of the pope on Saturday Night Live in 1992 to draw attention to child sexual abuse in the Catholic church, just about everyone turned their back on her. She was banned for life by NBC, belittled by late night comedians, often in painfully misogynistic ways, and even threatened with violence by Frank Sinatra. The one person who came to her aid in the days that followed was Kris Kristofferson. Kristofferson died Saturday at 88.
In her 2021 memoir, Rememberings: Scenes From My Complicated Life, O’Connor wrote about the immediate aftermath of the incident in the NBC studio where SNL is taped. “Total stunned silence in the audience,” she wrote. “And when I walk backstage, literally not a human being is in sight. All doors have closed. Everyone has vanished. Including my own manager, who locks himself in his room for three days and unplugs his phone.”
When she left the studio, two young men chased her down the street and threw eggs at her. Before long, everyone from Madonna to Sinatra criticized O’Connor in public. “This must be one stupid broad,” Sinatra told the audience at a show in New Jersey. “I’d kick her ass if she were a guy. She must beat her kids to stay in shape.”
Just 13 days after the SNL broadcast, O’Connor was booked to perform at Bob Dylan‘s 30th-anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden, part of an incredible bill that included George Harrison, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, Roger McGuinn, the Band, Eric Clapton, Tracy Chapman, Chrissie Hynde, and Lou Reed.
Early in the evening, Kristofferson came out to introduce O’Connor. “I’m real proud to introduce this next artist whose name became synonymous with courage and integrity,” he said. “Ladies and gentlemen, Sinead O’Connor.” As you can see from this video, a flood of boos filled Madison Square Garden the moment she took the stage. The band eventually began to launch into Dylan’s 1979 classic “I Believe in You,” but they were overpowered by the boos. Kristofferson came out to whisper some encouraging words into her ear and the band tried again, but O’Connor signaled for them to stop. She then sang a portion of Bob Marley’s “War,” just as she had on SNL, before running off the stage and into the arms of Kristofferson.
Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready came out next and won the crowd back over with a chilling rendition of “Masters of War” and the night continued without incident. But it was a sign that the public was never going to forgive O’Connor, who died in 2023, for the SNL controversy, and a moment of incredible bravery for Kristofferson.