On Tuesday, NBC’s Today show attempted to rehabilitate washed-up singer Sinead O’Connor by claiming the far-left radical’s infamous stunt of ripping up a photo of Pope John Paul II during a 1992 Saturday Night Live appearance was actually a “blessing” and an “awakening.” The fawning profile lamented that her shameful anti-Catholic display caused her to be “cancelled.”
Co-host Savannah Guthrie explained that “at the height of her newfound fame, the singer stunned the world on Saturday Night Live by ripping up without warning a photo of Pope John Paul II.” Fellow co-host Carson Daly sat down for a softball chat with the leftist performer and immediately went to work justifying her despicable action: “Of course you remember that huge deal on SNL in 1992, but Sinead, who converted to Islam since then, says it was actually a lot more than a stunt, and her reasons for tearing up that photo were deeply personal.”
Daly recalled for viewers the has-been singer’s brief popularity and downfall:
With her shaved head and haunting version of Nothing Compares to You, Sinead O’Connor shot to fame in 1990 with a massive number one hit....But it was her shocking move on Saturday Night Live in 1992, after singing Bob Marley’s War when Sinead tore up a photo of pope John Paul II, and instantaneously destroyed her career.
Rather than challenge her on the nasty incident, Daly instead sympathized: “The perception was that, that Pope moment, ’92, on SNL, sort of derailed your career, whereas your take on it, which I thought was interesting, was that it’s quite the opposite. It was at that moment that you felt like you were re-railing your career.” O’Connor replied: “Yeah, Sinead O’Connor was never meant to be a pop star. I was really a protest singer, you know.”
“She says it wasn’t a stunt, it was a statement against child abuse,” Daly spun.
After lamenting O’Connor being “famously booed off the stage at a Bob Dylan tribute concert,” Daly fretted: “Do you think you were the first one sort of cancelled?” O’Connor seized on his portrayal of her as a victim: “That’s a good question. I never thought of that. Probably the first one that everybody was like, ‘Okay, that [expletive] is not having a career now.’” Daly bemoaned: “Yeah, I mean, they were steam rolling your records, like, within 24 hours. They were literally with bulldozers.”
Moments later, he declared: “She says ripping up the photo of the Pope was a blessing.” Turning to O’Connor, Daly further helped excuse her offensive behavior: “So that was an awakening, that moment when you ripped the Pope up, you were like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ That was you almost finding yourself again?” O’Connor argued: “It was a blessing because I had to make my living doing the thing I loved doing, which is making music live.”
Daly went so far as to speculate that O’Connor ripping up a picture of the Pope wasn’t really about the Pope at all: “Sinead said it wasn’t just about abuse in the Church, the photo of the Pope belonged to Sinead’s mother, who abused her for years.” He played amateur psychiatrist as he asked: “Was there something symbolic about that actual picture of the Pope that you tore?” O’Connor followed his lead: “That picture I took off my mother’s bedroom wall, it was a way of ripping her up as well, I guess. Ripping up my mother, you know.”
This constant attempt by the left-wing media to rehabilitate disgraced liberals demonstrates how in the tank journalists are for political activists they happen to agree with. Just a couple weeks earlier, Guthrie tossed softballs to Ellen DeGeneres about accusations of creating a toxic work environment, ultimately painting the lefty talk show host as victim of cancel culture.
NBC’s push to resurrect O’Connor’s career was brought to viewer’s by Wendy’s. You can fight back by letting this advertiser know what you think of it sponsoring such content.
Here is a transcript of the June 1 segment:
8:18 AM ET
[SINEAD O’CONNOR SINGING COVER OF “NOTHING COMPARES TO YOU”]
HODA KOTB: You know that tune, Nothing Compares to You. The 1990s hit that turned Sinead O'’Connor into a worldwide star.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Yeah, but at the height of her newfound fame, the singer stunned the world on Saturday Night Live by ripping up without warning a photo of Pope John Paul II.
CRAIG MELVIN: She writes about it and more in her new memoir, it’s called Rememberings. And Mr. Daly, you got to share a rare and pretty candid conversation with Sinead O’Connor. It was her first television interview about the book.
CARSON DALY: Very candid and a lot going on. Of course you remember that huge deal on SNL in 1992, but Sinead, who converted to Islam since then, says it was actually a lot more than a stunt, and her reasons for tearing up that photo were deeply personal. I caught up with her from her home, a very remote area outside of Dublin that looks like it's straight out of a children’s storybook. But of course Sinead’s life story is far from a fairy tale.
With her shaved head and haunting version of Nothing Compares to You, Sinead O’Connor shot to fame in 1990 with a massive number one hit. One year later, she grabbed the Grammy for best alternative music album, even though she boycotted the awards that year.
TIM ROBBINS [SNL HOST, 1992]: Once again, Sinead O’Connor.
DALY: But it was her shocking move on Saturday Night Live in 1992, after singing Bob Marley’s War when Sinead tore up a photo of pope John Paul II, and instantaneously destroyed her career.
SINEAD O’CONNOR [SNL, 1992]: Fight the real enemy!
DALY: The perception was that, that Pope moment, ’92, on SNL, sort of derailed your career, whereas your take on it, which I thought was interesting, was that it’s quite the opposite. It was at that moment that you felt like you were re-railing your career. What do you mean by that?
O’CONNOR: Yeah, Sinead O’Connor was never meant to be a pop star. I was really a protest singer, you know.
DALY: She says it wasn’t a stunt, it was a statement against child abuse. A decade before the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church exploded. The Vatican had no comment. Catholic leaders said her actions deeply wounded people.
O’CONNOR: Ten years after the Pope-ripping episode, you all then found out in America that this was going on. We always say Americans think nothing happened until they found out about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN [CONCERT ANNOUNCER, OCTOBER 16, 1992]: Ladies and gentlemen, Sinead O’Connor.
DALY: Nearly two weeks after SNL, Sinead was famously booed off the stage at a Bob Dylan tribute concert.
You shouted roar over the audience.
O’CONNOR: I think I got half way through before I almost barfed because I was screaming so loud.
DALY: Do you think you were the first one sort of cancelled?
O’CONNOR: That’s a good question. I never thought of that. Probably the first one that everybody was like, “Okay, that [expletive] is not having a career now.”
DALY: Yeah, I mean, they were steam rolling your records, like, within 24 hours. They were literally with bulldozers.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Until she apologizes, we’ve got to say do not buy her material.
DALY: She says ripping up the photo of the Pope was a blessing.
So that was an awakening, that moment when you ripped the Pope up, you were like, “Oh, my gosh.” That was you almost finding yourself again?
O’CONNOR: It was a blessing because I had to make my living doing the thing I loved doing, which is making music live.
DALY: Sinead said it wasn’t just about abuse in the Church, the photo of the Pope belonged to Sinead’s mother, who abused her for years.
Was there something symbolic about that actual picture of the Pope that you tore?
O’CONNOR: That picture I took off my mother’s bedroom wall, it was a way of ripping her up as well, I guess. Ripping up my mother, you know.
DALY: In her new memoir, Rememberings, Sinead reveals chilling details about the abuse, and decades of mental health struggles that followed. Some playing out very publicly on social media.
O’CONNOR: [FACEBOOK, 2017]: This is no way for people to be living.
DALY: After seeking treatment and rehab, today, Sinead seems to be in a much better place, living in a peaceful thatched roof house in a remote area outside of Dublin.
As you and I sit here right now, I mean, how do you feel, how are you?
O’CONNOR: No, I’m good, yeah. I’ve been really good since I moved into this place about a year ago, yeah, it’s real peaceful.
(...)
