Kenan Thompson Condemns Pete Davidson's 'SNL' Joke About Disabled Veteran Dan Crenshaw

Kenan Thompson Condemns Pete Davidson's 'SNL' Joke About Disabled Veteran Dan Crenshaw Kenan Thompson said Saturday Night Live ...

Kenan Thompson Condemns Pete Davidson's 'SNL' Joke About Disabled Veteran Dan Crenshaw

Kenan Thompson said Saturday Night Live castmate Pete Davidson “missed the mark” when he joked about war veteran Dan Crenshaw’s injury on the latest episode of the NBC sketch comedy show.

Davidson appeared on a segment of “Weekend Update” for a bit titled “First Impressions.” He gave his hot takes on congressional candidates running in the 2018 midterm elections including Crenshaw, whom Davidson joked “lost his eye in war.”

Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who is the Republican candidate for Texas’s 2nd district, was injured by an IED blast during his third tour of duty in Helmand province in 2012. Crenshaw lost his right eye from the blast and suffered damage in the left eye, however, vision in his left eye was eventually restored following rounds of surgeries. He went on to complete two more tours before his military post ended.

Thompson, whose father served in the Vietnam War, said Davidson’s joke “definitely seems” out of line while appearing on NBC’s Today on Monday. Despite noting that he personally would “never” joke about veterans, Thompson said Davidson wasn't trying to be intentionally cruel; he just didn’t think the joke all the way through.

“Standups feel like there’s no real filters out there in the world when they’re trying to go for a great joke or whatever and we try to respect that,” Thompson said. “But at the same time when you miss the mark, you’re offending people. So you have to really be a little more aware, in my opinion.”

Thompson went on to say Davidson’s remarks immediately following the joke proved he recognized the joke fell flat. “I think he was more so commenting on the fact that the joke maybe didn’t land as hard as he wanted to, as opposed to being like, ‘I don’t care about veterans,’” Thompson said.

Davidson received a ton of backlash over the joke, including from Crenshaw who said the failed wisecrack “exposed [Davidson] for who he really is.” Thompson argued Davidson wasn’t an offensive person and was merely doing his job as a comedian.

“I think Pete’s a very humble dude, and he’s got a big heart. I don’t think he goes out to offend people, but standups, they’re the ones that help us laugh through the most awful things in the first place,” Thompson said. “They’re always fishing in weird places and that was an unfortunate outcome.”

Source: Google News US Entertainment | Netizen 24 United States