Joe Pesci is being called out for historic comments that saw him claim he would have “slapped” Sinead O’Connor on Saturday Night Live, after she tore up a photo of the pope.
The Goodfellas actor appeared on US sketch show SNL back in October 1992, one week after the Irish singer, who died on Wednesday (26 July) aged 56.
O’Connor had performed a cover version of Bob Marley song "War” on an episode hosted by Tim Robbins, following which she controversially ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II, and stated to the camera: “Fight the real enemy.”
The move, which was a protest against the sexual abuse of children by the Catholic Church, led to a huge and lengthy backlash – something O’Connor herself reflected on in her 2021 memoir, Rememberings.
“A lot of people say or think that tearing up the Pope’s photo derailed my career,” she wrote. “That’s not how I feel about it I feel that having a No 1 record derailed my career and my tearing the photo put me back on the right track.”
The moment on TV was met with silence from the audience after producer Lorne Michaels ordered the crew to turn off the “applause” lights.
During Pesci’s opening monologue the following week, the actor addressed the controversy, saying: "Before we start the show, there's a little matter I wanna clear up. There was an incident on the show last week: Sinead O'Connor tore up a picture of the Pope, and I thought that was wrong, so I asked someone to paste it back together.”
He then presented the photo to applause from the audience, before adding: “I mean why should I let it bother me, right? It wasn’t my show. But I’ll tell you one thing, she was very lucky it wasn’t my show, because if it was my show, I would have gave her such a smack.”
Pesci then said he would “grabbed her by her eyebrows”, referencing the singer’s bald head.
Fans of the actor are expressing shock and disappointment over his comments – as well as the fact that the crowd loudly cheered his comments.
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Sharing the video on Twitter, @DamJef wrote: “F*** Joe Pesci and everyone who was involved with this.”
Joe Pesci says he ‘would have given’ Sinead O’Connor ‘such a slap’ on ‘SNL’— (YouTube)
“I never saw this clip in response to Sinead at the time. This is so hideous,” one person wrote in response, with an additional user stating: “Damn. I’ve never seen this clip. He threatened to slap Sinead O’Connor / Shuhada’ Sadaqat for telling the truth on Saturday night tv, and the crowd clapped. Vile.”
Another added: “Getting applause for threatening a woman is crazy.”
The Independent has contacted Pesci for comment.
