For the last time on Saturday night, Pete Davidson stopped by the “Weekend Update” desk to say goodbye and talk about how unlikely it was that he would ever be one of the SNL’s most famous cast members.
“Hello, Colin and Che and millions of people watching just to see if I bring up Kanye,” Davidson began, referring to his very public feud with girlfriend Kim Kardashian’s ex.
“I never thought this would be my life,” he said, describing the 20-year-old who joined the show in 2014 as “a skinny kid and nobody knew what race I was.” He then joked, “Now everyone knows I’m white because I became hugely successful while barely getting to work.”
Davidson noted how much has changed during his seven seasons in the cast, saying, “In three years, Fox News called me a monster for making fun of Congressman Dan Crenshaw’s eye patch to also making fun of his eye patch.”
“Tucker Carlson called him ‘Eye Patch McCain,'” he explained. “That’s two veterans in one insult! Gosh, Colin, your father is an asshole.’
“To be honest with what I said because clearly it still bothers me, I was just joking about someone’s appearance without realizing that the medical condition behind it was a sensitive issue, what a SNL alumni tradition,” as the photo of Will Smith punching Chris Rock at the Oscars loomed behind him with moans from the crowd. “On the one hand, I don’t like that people think they can just run on stage and hit a comedian. But on the other hand, I know that all my shows will now be sold out.”
Kate McKinnon holds back tears in emotional SNL broadcast
Davidson explained that when he first auditioned for… SNLproducer Lorne Michaels told him, “I don’t think you’re right for this show, so let’s screw this up together.”
“And that’s exactly what we did,” Davidson said. “And that’s why people who think I don’t deserve the job shouldn’t hate me, because we have so much in common. If anything, I should give hope that literally anyone can be Saturday Night Live† Seriously, you see a guy smoking cigarettes outside a 7-Eleven at 2 a.m., that’s not a meth-head, ‘That’s the next Pete Davidson!’”
He got visibly emotional when he closed things by saying thank you SNL for “always standing behind me and allowing me to work on myself and grow.”
“And thanks to Lorne for never giving up on me and never judging me, even when everyone else was,” continued Davidson. “And to believe in me and give me a place I could call home with memories that will last a lifetime.”
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