Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson jokes in his new stand-up special that he was forced to apologize to Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw for poking fun at his war injury.
Davidson addressed the controversy, which stemmed from him mocking the Texas Republican — who lost an eye in an IED blast while serving in Afghanistan — during a 2018 SNL episode, in his Netflix special titled Alive From New York, which was released Tuesday.
“I got in trouble last year, because I was making some jokes,” he joked, according to the Daily Beast.
“I didn’t think I did anything wrong,” Davidson added. “It was like words that were twisted so that a guy could be famous … So I made fun of this guy with an eyepatch and then, like, I kind of got forced to apologize.”
The comedian continued by addressing the backlash he received, saying, “I said ‘whatever’ and people were like, ‘You hate America!’ And I’m like, ‘No, I just didn’t want to be incorrect about how he lost his fucking eye, is that a crime?!’”
Davidson, who recently said he’s ready to leave the show in an interview with Charlamagne Tha God, later added that the “only thing” he should apologize for is making Crenshaw “a household name for no reason.”
The comedian’s original comments were made on the show’s “Weekend Update” segment in November 2018. At the time, he mocked Crenshaw, who wears an eye patch, saying, “You may be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate for Texas and not a hit man in a porno movie,” before adding, “I’m sorry. I know he lost his eye in war — or whatever.”
The comedian apologized a week later on the next episode.
“In what I’m sure was a huge shock for people who know me, I made a poor choice last week,” Davidson said. “I made a joke about Lt. Cmdr. Dan Crenshaw, and on behalf of the show and myself, I apologize.”
The Texas congressman then joined Davidson on the set the day before Veterans Day and accepted the apology. He cracked a few jokes of his own at the comedian’s expense and then pivoted the conversation to sharing a message about veterans.
