The father of two, 40, spoke out about the 24 year-old’s decision to make light of now-elected Republican House representative Crenshaw’s war-caused disability, on Tuesday’s episode ofThe Viewwhile promoting his new movieThe Grinch.
“It’s never somewhere I would go, in the offense territory towards veterans, because my father is one,” Thompson began, before turning to hostMeghan McCain. “Your father is one, great man. I met him when he hosted.”
Next, theSNLactor defended Davidson’s actions from an artistic perspective.
“When you’re a comedian trying to go for jokes, you know how it is trying to figure out a way to get into something that’s a touchy subject or something that’s very sorrowful and you want to try to bring joy into something and you miss the mark,” the Nickelodeon alum explained.
“Pete’s a good kid. He has a big heart,” he continued. “He has tragedy in his life withhis father passing from 9/11… being a firefighter. I definitely don’t think he goes out to offend people, but unfortunately that’s what happened in this case.”
As the longest running cast member of the iconic sketch comedy show, Thompson then anticipated how writers and producers will handle the mistake.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Crenshaw for Congress/Facebook
“They’re figuring out a way to right that wrong, I’m pretty sure,” theFat Albertstar said. “It’s not our intention to disrespect anyone. Our whole thing is to just be artists and hold up the mirror.”
During the most recent episode ofSNL, Davidson joined “Weekend Update” to give his first impressions on a few of the candidates who ran for office inTuesday’s midterms elections.
When a photo of Crenshaw came up, Davidson joked that he looked like a “hitman from a porno” due to his eyepatch, which he wears after losing an eye serving in Afghanistan.
“I’m sorry, I know he lost his eye in war or whatever,” he said as he laughed. “Whatever.”
Davidson immediately received harsh backlash for the comment. In fact, when heappeared onTodayon Monday, Thompson said his costar crossed the line.
“I personally would never necessarily go there, but it’s tough when you’re fishing for jokes — like that’s how stand-ups 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 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 said, adding, “He definitely missed the mark.”
On social media, many called Davidson out for being insensitive.
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“It’s not political correctness to say this joke literally belittles Dan Crenshaw’s sacrifice for our country,” wrote one Twitter user. “He deserves our thanks andPete Davidson‘s apology.”
However, Crenshaw, who won his race to represent Texas’ 2nd Congressional district in the House, said no amends were necessary.
“I want us to get away from this culture where we demand apologies every time someone misspeaks,” he toldTMZalso on Monday. “I think that would be very healthy for our nation to go in that direction. We don’t need to be outwardly outraged. I don’t need to demand apologies from them. They can do whatever they want, you know. They are feeling the heat from around the country right now, and that’s fine.”
source: people.com
