Top 10 Celebs Who Have Accidentally Dropped the F-bomb on SNL

Script written by George Pacheco

They don't call it “Saturday Night Live" for nothing. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Celebs Who've Accidentally Dropped the F-Bomb on SNL. For this list, we'll be ranking the most impactful instances of celebrities dropping that infamous curse word during the live comedy broadcast. We’re including cast members, hosts and musical guests for this list; and sure, maybe not all of these verbal gaffes were perfectly “accidental," but they certainly made for some memorable television.

The first F-bomb on our list has a little bit of controversy. You see, many in the audience at home and in the “SNL” studio, well, swore they heard Samuel L. Jackson blurt out his cuss word during Kenan Thompson's hilarious "What Up With That?" sketch, but there’s no definitive proof. Thompson even rolled with the apparent mistake, laughing that those kinds of words "cost money." Jackson claimed after the show that he stopped short of dropping the full F-bomb, and that Kenan was supposed to interrupt him before the final "k." We'll let you judge for yourself as to who’s right.

#9: Steven Tyler

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Aerosmith were on “SNL” back in 1990, and made it a memorable episode by dropping in on Mike Myers and Dana Carvey in a "Wayne's World' sketch, for a bit of fun. Not everyone was laughing later on when the band took the stage as the episode's musical guest, however, as they performed "Monkey on My Back" from their then-most recent album, "Pump." Frontman Steven Tyler couldn't be bothered to censor himself on this night, and chose to blurt out one of the song's lines, "feeding that f**-ing monkey off my back" without restraint.

Steven Tyler and Aerosmith may be the first musical culprits on our list to drop an F-bomb, but they won't be the last. Morris Day and the Time were a funky R&B group, best-known for their appearance in Prince's film "Purple Rain." The band's biggest hit was "Jungle Love," but The Time also played the song "Chocolate" on “SNL,” and it was during this second performance where they got in a bit of trouble. Morris Day and co. started out the song just fine, but the singer dropped his F-bomb when the song is almost finished, saying "where the f*** this chicken come from? I thought I ordered ribs!"

#7: Prince

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Speaking of Prince, The Purple One dropped an F-bomb of his own nearly ten years before Morris Day and the Time, during a performance of his song, "Partyup." Prince, never one to censor himself, sang the uncut line, "fightin' war is such a f**-in bore." While it also sounds like he might have said 'freakin' instead, we unfortunately will never know for sure. Now, it makes sense that casual swearing probably didn't go over that well with TV audiences back in 1981, but incredibly enough, Prince's performance wasn't even the last time an F-bomb would be dropped on THAT episode, never mind the series run. . .

… case in point: Charles Rocket. Rocket was a member of the “SNL” cast during the series' disastrous 1980-81 season, primarily as host for the "Weekend Update" segment. Rocket was in the middle of a "Who Shot J.R.?" parody of "Dallas" during that season, and was in character during this episode's closing moments. It was here where he remarked, "I'd like to know who the f*** did it." Now, we're not sure what possessed Rocket to drop such a casual F-bomb right before the closing credits, but we do know that his stay at the show didn't last much longer, as he was fired midway through the season.

#5: Sam Rockwell

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Ok, we're not sure if we can blame Sam Rockwell for this 2018 F-bomb, as his character on this parody of '90s science programs was "supposed" to be frustrated. Rockwell's "Mr. Science" was gradually losing his patience with a pair of useless "junior scientists" who just don't seem to have a clue. The sketch appeared to be going smoothly, until Rockwell slipped up with an F-bomb. To their credit, both Sam and SNL players Mikey Day and Cecily Strong kept their faces straight and carried on, which just goes to show how professional all three were during what could've been a live disaster.

“SNL” cast member Norm Macdonald got into the F word business in 1997, when he misread his lines from a teleprompter while hosting "Weekend Update". Macdonald muttered, "what the f*** was that?" after the flub, which caused the audience to roar with laughter. The comedian took the gaffe in stride, however, remarking that the segment was his "farewell performance," before telling the SNL crowd that "maybe" he'd see them the next week. Thankfully, the slip up didn't cost Norm his job, and he went on to continue killing it on “SNL”.

OK, this entry might win the "best reaction" award for comedian Jenny Slate, whose unintentional F-bomb was probably the most memorable aspect of her “SNL” tenure during the 2009-2010 season. Slate was taking part in a sketch alongside Kristen Wiig when, out of nowhere, a line which should've read, "and I love you for that" was delivered as "and I f***-in love you for that." Slate immediately realized her error, and her mortified reaction is just priceless. What's worse, this was on Slate's very first episode as a featured player. Oopsie!

#2: Paul Shaffer

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We go all the way back to 1980 for our penultimate pick, and a person who you might not expect to accidentally drop an F-bomb on live TV. Yep, it was musical legend and future "Late Night With David Letterman" band leader Paul Shaffer, starring in a sketch about medieval torture. So far, so good, right? Well, that was until Shaffer mistakenly said "f***-in" instead of "floggin'," surprising everyone onstage and in the audience. But it didn’t hurt Shaffer that much in the long run, so no harm, no foul..

#1: Kristen Stewart

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We can't blame Kristen Stewart for being just a little bit excited at the prospect of hosting “SNL”. After all, it's an honor few dream will ever come their way. Maybe that explains why Stewart, in her excitement, proclaimed the hosting gig to be "the coolest f***-ing thing ever!" during her opening monologue. Honestly, though? Stewart, Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon laughed it off like pros, so this one rises to the top as our favorite F-bomb snafu, just because of the "aw shucks" good natured feeling of it all.