Pete Davidson compared his controversial Dan Crenshaw joke to the Will Smith and Chris Rock slap in his final episode ofSaturday Night Live.
Appearing on the sketch show for the last time on Saturday (21 May), Davidson addressed the backlash he received in 2018 after mocking the Republican politician.
Davidson joked at the time that Crenshaw, who wears an eyepatch as a result of a wound incurred while fighting in Afghanistan, looked like “a hitman in a porno movie”. He later appeared alongside the political candidate on SNL to apologise and call him a “war hero”.
During his last episode, Davidson said that Fox News had gone from calling him a “monster” for joking about Crenshaw to making fun of him themselves.
“Tucker Carlson called him ‘eyepatch McCain’,” he said. “That’s two veterans in one insult.”
Davidson continued: “But in fairness though, to what I originally said, ‘cos clearly it still bothers me… I was simply making a joke about someone’s appearance without realising that the medical condition behind it was a sensitive issue, which is an SNL alumni tradition.”
A picture of Smith slapping former SNL star Rock was then shown on the screen.
Smith jumped up on stage to slap the comedian at this year’s Oscars after Rock made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved haircut, which results from her alopecia.
The SNL audience laughed in shock, while Davidson also chuckled.
“Here, on one hand, I don’t like that people think that they can just run up on stage and hit a comedian,” he continued.
“But on the other, it’s how I know all of my shows will now be sold out.”
Elsewhere in his last Weekend Update segment, Davidson joked about his public spat with Kanye West and brief engagement to Ariana Grande.
Before the episode aired, he shared an emotional Instagram post saying that he “wouldn’t be here” without his SNL co-stars.
Davidson leaves SNL alongside cast members Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney.
