Claim to Fame: former Navy SEAL and newly elected Republican representative of Texas
Why He's the Person of the Week: for displaying forgiveness as well as tremendous class by continuing to take the high road a week after "Saturday Night Live" comedian Pete Davidson was rightly criticized for mocking Crenshaw's eye-patch last week on SNL during a 'Weekend Update' segment.
Crenshaw, a former Navy Seal, was severely wounded during his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. Davidson’s comments were widely condemned and politicians from both sides of the aisle called on the comedian to apologize. So on this week’s episode of SNL, Davidson did just that — with Crenshaw sitting by his side:
In a surprise cameo, Crenshaw appeared alongside Davidson to take a few humorous potshots of his own and then, more earnestly, to try to find some common ground.
During a segment last week about 2018 political candidates, Davidson spoke in front of a picture of Crenshaw, a Texas Republican who wears an eye patch because of an injury he sustained from an I.E.D. explosion in Afghanistan. “You may be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate from Texas and not a hit man in a porno movie,” Davidson said. “I’m sorry, I know he lost his eye in war or whatever.”
Davidson’s remarks were denounced by elected officials and political organizations like the National Republican Congressional Committee, which called for an apology. In an interview on NBC’s “Today” show, Davidson’s castmate Kenan Thompson said the joke “missed the mark.” For his part, Crenshaw said in his victory speech on Tuesday that Americans “are not a people that shatter at the first sign of offense.”
In this week’s episode, which was hosted by Liev Schreiber and featured the musical guest Lil Wayne, Davidson returned to the “Weekend Update” desk. Referencing the controversial joke, he began by saying: “In what I’m sure was a huge shock for people who know me, I made a poor choice last week.”
He added: “I mean this from the bottom of my heart. It was a poor choice of words. The man is a war hero, and he deserves all the respect in the world. And if any good came of this, maybe it was that for one day, the left and the right finally came together to agree on something. That I’m a [expletive].”
Crenshaw then took a seat next to Davidson and said, “You think?”
Davidson told him, “Thank you so much for coming.”
“Thanks for making a Republican look good,” Crenshaw replied.
Davidson told Crenshaw he was sorry, and Crenshaw accepted, but then suddenly Crenshaw’s cellphone rang: His ringtone was “Breathin’,” a song by the pop star Ariana Grande, who just last month became Davidson’s ex-fiancée. Davidson took the joke in stride as Crenshaw asked him, “Do you know her?”
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