Pete Davidson Bid A Sweet And Self-Deprecating Farewell To ‘SNL,’ Joking That He’s Proof That ‘Anyone’ Can Be On The Show

On Friday, the day before the show’s season finale, there was some big SNL news: Four cast members were leaving. One of them was Pete Davidson, who joined the cast in 2014 and carved out a niche by mostly, well, playing himself. His self-deprecating monologues became a fixture of Weekend Update, in which he chronicled his oft-surreal life. So it was only fitting that he do the same on what proved to be his final show.

Davidson began by addressing “the millions of people only watching to see if I bring up Kanye.” (He did not.) His farewell address touched on some of the wilder parts of his tenure, such as him getting engaged to singer Ariana Grande after only two weeks of dating. He also discussed the Dan Crenshaw affair, when he made a joke about the Texas lawmaker’s eyepatch, which prompted him to apologize to him in person on live TV. Not that he was the last person to crack wise about his condition.

“In three years, Fox News went from calling me a monster for making fun of congressman Dan Crenshaw’s eyepatch to also making fun of Dan Crenshaw’s eyepatch,” Davidson joked, referencing Tucker Carlson doing exactly what Davidson did, minus the blowback and mea culpa. In fact, Carlson called him “Eyepatch McCain,” which Davidson pointed out was “two veterans in one insult.” (He also told co-host Colin Jost “your dad’s a d*ck.”)

He also claimed SNL honcho Lorne Michaels told him during his audition that he didn’t think he was “right” for this show, but went ahead anyway, saying, “Let’s screw this up together.” He then addressed his critics, with whom he agrees, saying, “that’s why people who don’t think I deserve this job shouldn’t hate me since we have so much in common. If anything, I should inspire hope, that literally anyone could be on Saturday Night Live.”

Davidson ended his monologue with a heartfelt message. “I appreciate SNL always having my back and allowing me to work on myself and grow,” he said. “And thank you to Lorne [Michaels] for never giving up on me or judging me even when everyone else was, and for believing in me and allowing me to have a place that I can call home with memories that will last a lifetime.”

You can watch Davidson’s farewell monologue in the video above.