Dan Crenshaw, the TexasCongressman who rose to fame somewhat unexpectedly after being made fun of in a Saturday Night Live sketch, reached out to Pete Davidson after the comedian shared a worrying post on Instagram.
Crenshaw told KPRC-TV it was “pretty devastating” to see Davidson’s post, in which the SNL star wrote: “I really don’t want to be on this earth anymore... I’m doing my best to stay here for you but I actually don’t know how much longer I can last. All I’ve ever tried to do was help people. Just remember I told you so.”
“You don’t want to be somebody in that kind of position to the point where they’re actually putting out a cry for help on social media,” Crenshaw said.
The Republican Congressman, who won a seat in the US House of Representatives during the November 2018 elections, explained he spoke with Davidson personally earlier this week.
“What I told him is everybody has a purpose in this world,” he said. “God put you here for a reason, but it’s your job to find that purpose.”
Crenshaw added: “And you should live that way. You should live that way by seeking out that purpose, not expecting it to be given to you by anybody else.
“And know that you have value and that you maybe do more good than you realise for people.”
Davidson has openly discussed his mental health, mentioning his borderline personality disorder diagnosis in a previous SNL segment in which he also urged those affected by depression to seek treatment.
New York police said they had checked on the comedian after his Instagram post was published. Fans and performers, including Jada Pinkett Smith, rapper Machine Gun Kelly, and Nicki Minaj, offered him support on social media.
Crenshaw was mentioned in an SNL sketch back in November, when Davidson gave his take on several of the candidates in the midterm elections.
“You may be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate from Texas and not a hit man in a porno movie,” Davidson said of Crenshaw.
The Congressman, a former Navy SEAL, lost his right eye during an IED blast in Afghanistan in 2012 and now wears an eye patch.
Davidson’s joke received mixed reactions, but the Congressman and the comedian later appeared together on SNL, clearly in good terms.
Davidson offered an apology, which Crenshaw accepted, although he had previously said he didn’t think the SNL cast member owed him one.
