Irish “protest singer” Sinead O’Connor, who died at the age of 56 on Wednesday, enraged people across the globe back in 1992 when she tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II during her appearance on Saturday Night Live.

The now-legendary incident happened on October 3, 1992, when O’Connor was the musical guest during actor Tim Robbins the guest hosting the segment. She tore up the photo on camera during her performance as a form of protest against the reported cover-ups by the Catholic Church of their sexual abuse allegations.

She later wrote in her 2021 autobiography, Rememberings: “Everyone wants a pop star, see? But I am a protest singer. I just had stuff to get off my chest. I had no desire for fame.”

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Actor Joe Pesci was the guest host on SNL on October, 10, 1992. During his opening monologue, Pesci brought addressed O’Connor’s actions during the previous week. “There was an incident on the show last week. Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of the Pope. I thought that was wrong, so I asked somebody to paste it back together,” he said, holding up the image, as the audience applauded.

Pesci continued: “There. I think that’s a lot better. Okay. Case closed. I mean, why should I let it bother me, right? It wasn’t my show, it was Tim Robbins’ show. “But I’ll tell you one thing, she was very lucky it wasn’t my show. Cos if it was my show, I would’ve gave her such a smack.”

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The audience broke into loud cheers as Pesci went on: “I would’ve grabbed her by her… eyebrows. Ah, what am I doing? I’m making myself crazy, for what? I mean, she’s just a kid, why should I care? Anyway, the Pope has probably forgiven her already, he forgave that guy that shot him, right?” he asked, mockingly.

Pesci’s video went viral on Twitter after O’Connor’s death.