Sabrina Carpenter earned the rare honor of pulling double duty during last week's episode of Saturday Night Live. But she also put herself in an even more rare category, pulling off a feat that only a select few pop stars have managed to do on the SNL stage.
Carpenter's episode was largely forgettable, but not for a lack of effort on her part. She proved early why she deserved to be the host, but the material didn't do Carpenter any favors. Even the return of Domingo (hopefully for the last time) wasn't enough to make a splash and get season 51 turned around.
Still, Carpenter managed to pull off one memorable moment during her performance of the song "Nobody's Son." The Man's Best Friend singer either forgot or chose not to censor herself, twice repeating the line "he sure f***ed me up."
Maybe Carpenter was caught up in the moment and didn't remember she was on NBC and not at one of her shows. Or perhaps she decided to go for it and knew it would add that much more attention to her performance. If that's the case, let's just hope she got Lorne Michaels' approval.
Michaels has a history of discouraging improvisation by cast members, hosts, and musical guests. That includes adding profanity or failing to self-censor due to the Federal Communications Commission fines that can come from airing such language.
So thanks to her double F-bombs, Carpenter joins an exclusive club of performers who have cursed on stage. It's an impressive list from the past 50 years that includes the likes of Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Prince, the Beastie Boys, and System of a Down.
Prince's use of the F-word came in 1981 during a rendition of "Party Up." Tyler did the same thing nine years later during a 1990 performance of "Monkey on My Back."
The Beastie Boys joined the club in 1994 with "Sure Shot." And in 2005, System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian let an F-bomb slip during a performance of "B.Y.O.B." The band's slip-up led to rumors that its since been banned from Saturday Night Live. While that hasn't been confirmed, System of a Down hasn't been back on the show since.
We probably don't have to worry about Sabrina Carpenter sharing the same fate. Yes, she let the F-word fly twice. But in a relatively short period of time, she has become a favorite at Saturday Night Live, serving as the musical guest, making a cameo, and playing a major role in the 50th anniversary special before pulling double duty in season 51. It will take more than swearing on stage for Carpenter to be banned from Studio 8H.