On April 13, 1996, alternative rock band Rage Against the Machine, known for its incendiary, anti-authoritarian political lyrics and hard-driving sound, was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. The show’s host that night was Steve Forbes, editor in chief of Forbes magazine and heir to the Forbes family fortune. One month before the show, Forbes had dropped his bid for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.
During rehearsal Rage Against the Machine had performed with American flags draped upside-down across the band’s amplifiers as a sign of protest. During the live broadcast, however, members of Saturday Night Live’s backstage crew removed the flags just before the band played its first song, “Bulls on Parade.” Afterward Rage Against the Machine was told that its second song was being cut for time. The band’s bassist, Tim Commerford, then went to Forbes’s dressing room and threw a balled-up flag at Forbes’s family, which led to the group being escorted from the studio.