A show couldn't be on air for 50 years and not have a few scandals.

Saturday Night Live is celebrating its 50th year on the air this year. The beloved late night show always has a host and musical guest every episode, sometimes one person doing both. But while shows sometimes go smoothly, every once in a while, a weekly guest doesn't stick to the script.

The show is always shot live, which can sometimes work against the cast and crew. Here's a few of the guests over the years that caused a few eyebrows to raise.

Ashlee Simpson's lip-syncing incident

During the peak of her fame, Ashlee Simpson appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live in 2004. She performed her popular track, Pieces of Me, earlier in the evening without any issues.

However, when she stepped onto the stage for her second performance of "Autobiography," it became apparent that she was lip-syncing, as the track from her earlier song began to play. Caught off guard, Ashlee momentarily panicked, danced a bit, and then quickly exited the stage.

The incident has gained widespread attention, as Ashlee revealed last year that she relied on pre-recorded vocals due to illness. Despite her objections, her record label urged her to go through with the performance. Ashlee remembered feeling anxious, saying, "My band hasn’t rehearsed this, this isn’t going to turn out well, I can’t handle this."

Martin Lawrence 'prohibited'

In 1994, comedian Martin Lawrence made a memorable appearance on Saturday Night Live as the host, delivering a monologue that veered completely off script during the live broadcast.

The complete monologue was removed from online platforms, leaving only a handful of clips accessible. In the contentious segment, Martin made inappropriate remarks regarding the scent of women's private areas, resulting in more than 200 complaints. This uproar prompted sponsors of the show to voice their objections, ultimately resulting in Martin's ban from the program.

Adrian Brody's poor imitation

In 2003, Adrian Brody deviated from the script by performing a Jamaican impression just before he introduced the Jamaican artist Sean Paul.

The star of The Pianist surprised both the audience at home and the cast behind the scenes by wearing a dreadlock wig and adopting an unusual accent. There were whispers that this incident led to Adrian being banned from the late-night show; however, the actor recently clarified that he was never informed of any ban, although he has not received an invitation to return since then.

Sinead O'Connor speaks out against the Pope.

One of the most notorious incidents in Saturday Night Live history occurred when Sinead O'Connor staged a protest against the Catholic Church regarding its handling of child sexual abuse, an issue that Pope John Paul II had not addressed at that point. Following her a cappella rendition of Bob Marley's song "War," the late artist displayed a picture of the pope and tore it apart, stating directly to the camera: "Fight the real enemy."

The audience expressed their strong disapproval, even booing Sinead during a tribute concert for Bob Dylan just two weeks later. In her 2021 memoir, Rememberings, she revealed that she had no regrets regarding her protest.

"People crave a pop star, don't they?" she penned. "But I'm a protest singer. I had things weighing on my mind that needed to be expressed. Fame was never my goal."

Kanye West's stance on political issues

This controversial incident never aired. In 2018, during Donald Trump's initial term as president, Kanye West appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live.

Following his performance of the song Ghost Town, the rapper put on a red Make America Great Again hat and delivered a speech in support of Trump, which was met with boos from the audience. Chris Redd, who was an SNL cast member at the time, later shared with the Daily Beast that he had anticipated the moment, noting that Kanye had pulled a similar move during the dress rehearsal.

“Even with the music still going, folks were just chilling and enjoying the moment,” Chris recalled. “But I was focused on what he was saying, thinking to myself, ‘Man, he’s about to drop some nonsense.’ I wasn’t about to get caught up in that on stage. I refuse to support it. I’ve admired Kanye for as long as I can remember, and I really miss the old Kanye.”