Pete Davidson added the 'whatever' to his controversial Dan Crenshaw joke on Saturday Night Live over the weekend after having the gag approved by NBC producers, it has been claimed.

On Saturday, Davidson stoked controversy by poking fun at war hero Crenshaw by saying he looked like a 'hit man in a porno movie'. 

Crenshaw, who is the GOP congressional candidate in Texas' 2nd district, lost his right eye in an IED blast in Afghanistan in 2012 and has worn an eye patch ever since. 

After making the joke, Davidson said coyly: 'I'm sorry, I know he lost his eye in the war or whatever. Whatever.' 

According to sources cited by TMZ, that part of the joke was entirely improvised by the young comedian. 

Representatives for NBC have declined to comment when approached by DailyMail.com on Tuesday morning. 

They have also not responded to calls from Crenshaw that they should apologize and donate $1million to veteran's charities.   

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Pete Davidson added the 'whatever' to his joke about war hero Dan Crenshaw losing an eye in the Afghanistan war on Saturday Night Live this weekend, according to sources 



Crenshaw intensified his criticism of Davidson during an appearance on Fox and Friends on Monday morning after initially tweeting nonchalantly about it.  

At almost exactly the same time, Davidson's SNL colleague Kenan Thompson appeared on Today to say he 'missed the mark.'  

'Listen, I have thick skin. In the SEAL teams we poke fun at each other all the time, but I have certain rules for when my friends poke fun at me.

'It has to be original, it has to be witty and it has to be actually funny, all right. 

'And this wasn't funny,' Crenshaw said. 

He went on to say the network 'should' apologize but he refused to demand an apology from either NBC or Davidson and suggested that they donate to a veterans charity instead. 











Davidson (pictured left after Saturday's show) asked show producer Lorne Michaels if he could include last minute material about Ariana Grande 

'They probably should apologize but this doesn't mean I'm going to demand an apology. I don't want to demand an apology that is hollow and empty.

'I do think that today's culture and today's politics, we tend t throw rocks at each other back and forth, demanding apologies for every upset that is done to us.

'They certainly crossed the line but their apology won't mean anything to me. 

'I think what they should do is pull their money together and donate to some veterans charities that are out there that could really use their help,' he said. 

Later, he told CNN that Davidson and the show's producers should give $1million.  


 'They certainly crossed the line but their apology won't mean anything to me. I think what they should do is pull their money together and donate to some veterans charities that are out there that could really use their help

'Let's throw a figure out there -- a million dollars -- and we will donate that to a series of veterans non-profits that helps veterans,' he said.   

On Monday morning, Crenshaw described the mission where he suffered the injury. He said he was lucky to be able to see at all. 

'We were in Helmand Province in Afghanistan. It went off right in front of me, it killed my interpreter and it completely blinded me.  

'I was put into a medically induced coma and I woke up five days later. My right was gone and they weren't sure if I'd ever see out of my left eye again. 

'It's actually a miracle that I can see at all and continue serving the american people,' he said. 




Dan Crenshaw appeared on Fox on Monday to double down on his criticism of Pete Davidson for his joke on Saturday Night Live over the weekend 

Crenshaw, who is running for Texas's 2nd district, added of the joke at his expense: 'What passes for humor these days is not what used to pass for humor. That's the big tragedy in all this. Why can't we just be funny again? What happened to our comedy in this country? 

'Why can't we give the American people a break and separate comedy from politics. This one was pretty inappropriate.'  In earlier remarks, he called it 'mean-spirited'. 

During his appearance on Today, Thomspon said he would never have gone for the same joke. 

'My father is a veteran, you know, Vietnam. I personally would never necessarily go there but it's tough when you're fishing for jokes. That's how stand-ups feel, like there's no real filter when you're trying to go for a great joke or whatever. 

'We try to respect that but at the same time, when you miss he mark you're offending people. You really need to be a bit aware in my opinion.

'He definitely missed the mark.




Crenshaw's SNL costar Kenan Thompson said on Monday morning that the joke 'missed the mark' and kontol he would 'never have gone there' 

'I think he was really commenting more on the fact that the joke maybe didn't land as hard as he wanted to as opposed to being like, "I don't care about veterans"'. 

He went on to say Davidson was a 'humble dude' with a 'big heart' who would never deliberately cause offense  

'I don't think he really goes out to offend people. Stand ups are the ones who help us laugh through the most awful things in the first place so they're always fishing in weird places. 

'That was an unfortunate outcome,' he said.   

The National Republican Congressional Committee has called on Davidson to apologize. 


 He definitely missed the mark.

Kenan Thompson  

In a sternly worded statement, spokesman Jack Pandol said of Davidson: 'Getting dumped by your pop star girlfriend is no excuse for lashing out at a decorated war hero who lost his eye serving our country. 

'Pete Davidson and NBC should immediately apologize to Dan, and to the millions of veterans and military families who tune in every weekend - because they're not laughing.'

Meghan McCain, whose late father John spent five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, called Davidson's skit 'really awful and incredibly tone-deaf and offensive'. 

'Come on SNL, do better,' she added.  

Donald Trump Jr retweeted criticism against Davidson, writing that his skit 'sounded more like leftist editorial than anything these days'.




Crenshaw was injured during his third deployment in 2012 when he was hit by an IED blast during a mission in Afghanistan











Crenshaw's right eye was destroyed in the blast and his left eye was badly damaged from it. He is pictured right with his wife Tara Crenshaw





Crenshaw was quick to respond to Davidson's skit on Sunday morning, calling out SNL for using veterans 'as punchlines for bad jokes' 





Davidson was engaged to singer Ariana Grande until recently

The comedian lost his own father on 9/11 and has used his death in stand-up routines.

'I lost my dad on 9/11, and I always regretted growing up without a dad … until I met your dad, Justin. Now I'm glad mine's dead,' he said during a Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber in 2015. 

'I like doing that. I like making things that are dark, awkward, weird things that you don't really find funny, funny,' he told The New York Times in an interview afterwards.

In more somber interviews, he has revealed that his overwhelming grief caused him to pull out his own hair and led him to attempt suicide. 

At the end of his SNL skit on Saturday, he also talked about Grande in another off-the-cuff monologue where he described her as a 'wonderful' person. 

Thirty minutes before he went on the air, Grande released a new song where she referenced their romance. 

According to TMZ's sources, Davidson ran some of what he wanted to say past Lorne Michaels, the show's creator and most prolific producer.  

'I genuinely wish her all the happiness in the world,' he said of Grande, finishing off his skit: 'Go vote on Tuesday.' 

Davidson is yet to address the controversy.