"The ONLY person that gets a pass": SNL fans react to Cher allegedly lip-syncing during her performance

Saturday Night Live aired a new segment on December 20, 2025, featuring Cher as the musical guest for the night. 

The 79-year-old singer made her first appearance as the musical guest on the show, presenting a cover of her 2023 song DJ Play a Christmas Song.

However, as soon as she began singing, she faced criticism from fans, who accused her of lip-syncing to the track. 

Saturday Night Live fans took to X to point out that the lip-syncing was too evident to go unnoticed. 

While some accepted it, giving a “pass” to the singer because of her career in the music industry and iconic personality, others felt it was inappropriate to lip-sync to the song, especially because of her caliber.

“Cher is the ONLY person that gets a pass for lip syncing on #SNL. She’s an icon, lip sync if you want Queen!” a netizen commented.

Many Saturday Night Live viewers were okay with letting Cher off the hook for allegedly lip-syncing to her own track.

“Getting ahead of it.... No one can make any negative comments about Cher's lip syncing on #SNL She's an ICON and an American treasure and No one should actually sing the slop they told her to perform,” a fan wrote. 

“Autotuned, lip syncing, barely dancing with several dancers, tacking outfits….Cher is one the last relics of a true pop queen ERA,” another one commented.

“Cher just did one of the worst lip synchs I’ve ever seen on SNL, which obviously makes her even more iconic,” an X user reacted.

On the contrary, many did not appreciate Cher’s performance of an allegedly auto-tuned track. 

“cher that mic was nowhere near ur mouth for 80% of that snl performance nOT THE LIP SYNCING,” a person wrote. 

“Ummm Cher honey? She isn’t even singing….this is some of the worst lip syncing I have ever seen,” another one commented. 

“Cher was definitely not signing live! Which is understandable! Since she’s recovering from losing her voice! She made it very obvious that she was lipsyncing during that entire performance! Her dancing on stage was giving Ashlee Simpson! The backup dancers served & slayed!” a fan posted. 

Cher's performance becomes controversial when she is accused of lip-syncing during her appearance on Saturday Night Live

The December 20 episode of Saturday Night Live was hosted by Ariana Grande and featured Cher as the musical guest. 

However, Cher’s appearance drew mixed reviews from netizens who were unsure how to react to her performance of DJ Play a Christmas Song. 

According to viewers, Cher appeared to be mouthing the words of the song, which, they claimed, was heavily monitored. Additionally, they pointed out that Cher was barely dancing with the performers on stage.

Some even compared her act to Ashlee Simpson’s controversial 2004 act, in which an incorrect piece of her song, Pieces of Me, began to play at the wrong time. 

In the Peacock documentary, Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music, SNL music mixer Josiah Gluck recalled the Ashlee Simpson mishap, saying:

“It was decreed that she would lip sync for the second song just to save her voice. Somehow, between dress and air, it was decreed that she would lip sync both songs.”

Eventually, it generated confusion, resulting in the wrong track being played. 

While in Cher’s case, the audio was not incorrectly played, but fans noted that the lip sync reminded them of Ashlee. 

However, Cher recovered later with her rendition of Run Run Rudolph by Chuck Berry. 

Stay tuned for more updates.