Sabrina Carpenter’s appearance on the Oct. 18 episode of Saturday Night Live is making headlines — not for a sketch, but for an uncensored moment that slipped past censors during her musical performance.
Carpenter, who pulled double duty as host and musical guest, performed her track “Nobody’s Song” (also known as “Man’s Best Friend”) with a martial arts–inspired stage setup toward the end of the show. Twice during the song, she sang the line “He sure fucked me up” — and neither instance was muted on NBC’s East Coast broadcast or the Peacock simulcast.
Sources familiar with production say the uncensored airing was likely the result of miscommunication with network standards and practices. While the East Coast and livestream feeds went out with the profanity intact, some West Coast viewers reported a brief audio drop during the same moments, suggesting a delay was implemented later in the night.
Earlier in the episode, Carpenter performed “Manchild” as her first number.
This isn’t the first time the singer has made waves with unfiltered language on live television. At the 2025 MTV VMAs, while accepting the award for Best Album, she said, “This world… can be so full of criticism and discrimination and negativity… to get to be a part of something… that can make you feel like the world is your fucking oyster, I am so grateful.”
A Long History of Live-TV Slipups on ‘SNL’
Carpenter’s moment joins a long list of “SNL” profanity incidents. Over the years, several hosts and cast members — including Kristen Stewart, Sam Rockwell, Ariana Grande, Norm Macdonald and Jenny Slate — have blurted out F-bombs on air. NBC and Lorne Michaels have traditionally tried to avoid such moments due to possible FCC fines, but occasional lapses still happen. Even musical guests haven’t been immune: the Replacements infamously swore onstage in 1986.
The show has also dealt with plenty of controversial performances, from Rage Against the Machine’s flagged amps being pulled in 1996 to Ashlee Simpson’s lip-sync debacle in 2004.
Another High-Profile F-Word in the Headlines
Carpenter wasn’t the only public figure stirring debate with strong language this week. On Friday, President Donald J. Trump used the word during a live news conference, declaring that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro “doesn’t want to fuck around with the United States.” Rather than walk it back, the White House’s official X account and its rapid response team shared the video online.
With both a pop star and a sitting president dropping the same expletive on live platforms within days of each other, the question of how broadcasters handle profanity — and whether audiences still care — is back in the spotlight