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‘SNL’ Cast Member Says Joke Went Too Far on Saturday Night’s Show

Nov 5, 2018  •  Post A Comment

One joke from the latest installment of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has been at the center of a firestorm of controversy since the program aired.

USA Today reports that some observers are calling for the firing of both “SNL” producer Lorne Michaels and cast member Pete Davidson, who critics say crossed the line during a bit in which he gave his “first impressions” of a number of “gross” candidates running in this week’s midterm elections.

One of the targets of the bit was Texas politician Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who wears an eye patch after losing an eye in combat.

“You may be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate from Texas and not a hitman in a porno movie,” Davidson said as a photo of Crenshaw appeared on the screen. Davidson added: “I’m sorry — I know he lost his eye in war or whatever.”

Crenshaw was among those reacting to the joke. He sent out a tweet Sunday saying: “Good rule in life: I try hard not to offend; I try harder not to be offended. That being said,  I hope @nbcsnl recognizes that vets don’t deserve to see their wounds used as punchlines for bad jokes.”

Veteran “SNL” cast member Kenan Thompson also offered criticism of the joke. In an appearance this morning on NBC’s “Today” show, Thompson was asked whether the joke crossed the line and said, “It definitely seems it.” He added that Davidson “definitely missed the mark.”

Thompson also said of Davidson: “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 stand-ups, they’re the ones that help us laugh through the most awful things in the first place.

“They’re always fishing in weird places, and that was an unfortunate outcome.”

Here’s the segment from “SNL” featuring Davidson mocking a number of candidates, posted by NBC …

Here’s a clip of Thompson’s appearance this morning on NBC’s “Today” — the discussion of the controversial joke begins at about the 1:08 mark …

8 Comments

  1. how is making fun of someone’s appearances funny or relevant to the elections? Didn’t we just go through this with Mr. Trump. Not funny and if it weren’t for Alec Baldwin I’d tune out forever.
    Oh and BTW – his delivery is awful and like we care about his relationship status. Seriously? You give him time for that? Done with you.

  2. snl hasn’t been funny or relevant in decades. Worthless pos makes fun of a combat hero. Garbage television!

  3. “Pretty Humble Guys” don’t cross the line like that. This just shows how out of touch with reality the entertainment industry is. This was no “mistake.” Davidson INTENDED to OFFEND.

  4. Way to go “butthole eyes”…way to go…lol!

  5. I wish everyone would chillax. Comedy is not a science and those folks are putting their asses on the line every week. Knocking out a show like that is tough work and ALWAYS an experiment. When they get it right and the chemistry happens it’s very good. After 40 years it’s inevitable that it will be hit or miss. It goes through phases and lately much is tedious or overdone; I applaud the trying. Davidson’s joke went over the line and I cringed when I heard it. Nevertheless, without the occasional mistake that oversteps the boundaries of taste there would be only sanitized crap. People on this list should know better.

  6. It’s comedy, relax everyone.

  7. I’m starting to think that the Trumpies have an “SNL Moral Outrage” macro that automatically posts “not funny for years”, ” done with you”, “should be cancelled”, etc. after every episode. That joke shouldn’t have made it out of the writer’s room, let alone the dress rehearsal. It happens and those same people think it’s hilarious to joke about sexual assault survivors so their opinions on comedy are fairly suspect to begin with.

  8. Was that supposed to be funny?
    Getting desperate?
    Sad

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