The rock band scuffled with “SNL” stagehands and the Secret Service 30 years ago.

Tom Morello remembers Rage Against the Machine fighting with SNL staff before being kicked off show

The rock band scuffled with "SNL" stagehands and the Secret Service 30 years ago.

By Sharareh Drury

April 13, 2026 6:35 p.m. ET

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Astrida Valigorsky/Getty

Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello is looking back on one of the band's most iconic moments — being booted from* **Saturday Night Live*.

On April 13, 1996, Rage Against the Machine appeared on the iconic sketch show to promote their sophomore album, *Evil Empire*. But the band was only able to perform one of their songs, "Bulls on Parade," before they were ultimately kicked out of New York's 30 Rock building.

"Today’s the 30th anniversary of RATM’S um, 'memorable' performance on SNL," Morello wrote on social media. "There was a fight onstage between our crew and *SNL* stage hands moments before our performance, wrestling over some upside down American flags which adorned our amps."

The scuffle before their performance wasn't the final straw though. It was when Tim Commerford, bassist for the anti-authoritarian rock band, then "attacked host/billionarie/presidential candidate Steve Forbes’ family in the dressing room with a wadded up flag."

Forbes, editor-in-chief of *Forbes *magazine, had just concluded a run for the Republican nomination for president.

"Secret Service flooded the hallways. *SNL* cut (censored?) our second song and kicked us out onto the sidewalk," Morello said at the end of his post, also noting that their second album *Evil Empire *made it to the top of the Billboard Album Chart after the on-air clash.

Speaking with NME in 2025, Morello said their dressing room was right across the hall from Forbes. So, when an *SNL* representative told them their second number, “Bullet in the Head," would be cut because "the show's running a little long," the guitarist explained it was a "mistake" to then leave the band alone.

"Timmy [Commerford] doesn’t like things like that," Morello explained. "And he expresses himself. So, what he did was he took one of the American flags and he tore it up and he knotted it into a ball. You might call it a weapon. And he entered Steve Forbes’ dressing room across the way to attack him."

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Though Forbes was not in the dressing room at the time, his family was. "So Timmy launches his American flag ball rocket at aunts, cousins, wives, children. Fortunately, the kind of solid integrity of it is not so great. So … it flaps apart, hurting no one," Morello said.

Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello accidentally tackled by security during show

Rage Against the Machine ‘will not be touring or playing live again,’ says drummer Brad Wilk

Even with no one being physically hurt, Morello says that was enough for the band to get "escorted out and put on the sidewalk a 30 Rock."**

Rage Against the Machine, which features vocalist Zack de la Rocha, drummer Brad Wilk as well as Commerford and Morello, has melded metal, rap, punk rock, and funk to produce anti-capitalist and revolutionary music.

As of 2024, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees have stated there are no future plans to play together. Wilk shared in an Instagram post that despite previous plans for a reunion tour, Rage Against the Machine would not be performing again.

Rage Agains the Machine's Tom Morello performing with the band on 'SNL' in 1996.

"I don’t want to string people or myself along any further. So while there has been some communication that this may be happening in the future… I want to let you know that RATM (Tim, Zack, Tom and I) will not be touring or playing live again. I’m sorry for those of you who have been waiting for this to happen," Wilk wrote.

The group had previously announced a worldwide reunion tour that was slated to take place in 2020; however, the pandemic forced the group to postpone all their upcoming shows multiple times. In July 2022, Rage Against the Machine finally took the stage together for the first time since 2011; however, they were only able to play a small mix of shows between July and August before de la Rocha tore his Achilles tendon.**

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