Pete Davidson
Peter Michael Davidson (born November 16, 1993) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He began his career in the early 2010s with minor guest roles on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Friends of the People, Guy Code, and Wild 'n Out before being hired as cast member on the NBC late-night sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live which he starred on for eight seasons from 2014 to 2022.
For the Ariana Grande song, see Pete Davidson (song). For other uses, see Peter Davidson. Not to be confused with Peter Davison.Pete Davidson
Following his rise to prominence on SNL, Davidson starred and executive produced the comedy film Big Time Adolescence (2019), and co-wrote and starred in the semi-autobiographical comedy-drama film The King of Staten Island (2020), and the Peacock series Bupkis (2023). He continued acting in films such as The Suicide Squad (2021), Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022), and Meet Cute (2022). Davidson has also released three comedy specials: Pete Davidson: SMD (2016), Pete Davidson: Alive from New York (2020), and Pete Davidson: Turbo Fonzarelli (2024).
Early life and family
Peter Michael Davidson[1] was born in New York City's Staten Island borough on November 16, 1993, to Amy (née Waters) and Scott Matthew Davidson.[2][3] His father was a New York City firefighter for Ladder 118 who died in service during the September 11, 2001 attacks, along with the rest of his unit.[4] He was last seen running up the stairs of the Marriott World Trade Center just before the building was destroyed when the Twin Towers collapsed. His Requiem Mass was held at St. Clare's Catholic Church in Great Kills, Staten Island. Davidson, then aged seven, was profoundly affected by the loss. He told The New York Times that it was "overwhelming" and that he later acted out in school as a result of the trauma, at one point ripping his hair out until he was bald.[5] In October 2016, he revealed on The Breakfast Club morning radio show that he struggled with suicidal thoughts when he was younger and that the music of Kid Cudi saved his life.[6]
Davidson's father was predominantly of Jewish ancestry,[7][8] with some distant German, Irish, and Italian roots. His mother is of mostly Irish ancestry, with some distant German roots.[5] He has a younger sister named Casey[9][10] and was raised Catholic.[5][11] Davidson attended St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School, and then Tottenville High School, before transferring to Brooklyn's Xaverian High School and graduating from there in 2011. After high school, he enrolled at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights.[3] After one semester, Davidson decided to pursue a career in comedy full-time.[12][13] He first tried stand-up comedy at age sixteen in a Staten Island bowling alley, where a group of friends that included future professional baseball player Matthew Festa, knowing of his comedy aspirations, dared him to take to the stage.[14]
Career
Early career (2013–2014)
Davidson's earliest onscreen appearance was in the third episode of the MTV comedy series Failosophy, which premiered February 28, 2013.[15] The following month, he appeared in "PDA and Moms," a third-season episode of the MTV2 reality TV comedy series Guy Code, the first of four episodes in which he was featured.[16] That June, his first televised standup aired as part of a second-season episode of the Comedy Central program Gotham Comedy Live, which showcases standup comedians at the Gotham Comedy Club in New York City. The following month, he returned to MTV2 with an appearance on Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out, his first of six appearances on that show. He subsequently made standup appearances on television and appeared in Brooklyn Nine-Nine.[17] In 2014, he acquired a role in a Fox comedy pilot, Sober Companion,[18] but it ultimately did not make it to series.[19]
Saturday Night Live and breakthrough (2014–2022)
Davidson joined the cast of Saturday Night Live with the show's 40th-season premiere, which debuted on September 27, 2014. At age 20, he was the first SNL cast member to be born in the 1990s and one of the youngest cast members ever.[13][20] The first new addition to the cast that season,[12] Davidson was given a chance to audition for the show through regular Bill Hader, whom he had met while filming a small part in the 2015 Judd Apatow feature film comedy Trainwreck.[21] Hader subsequently told producer Lorne Michaels about him. His debut garnered positive critical notice,[21][22] with his most noted skits during the season including an Indiana Jones-style sketch in which he and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, after being pelted with poison darts, were forced to mutually suck poison out of each other's various body parts,[14][23] an endeavor that eventually found them entangled in the "69" position.[24] Another involved Davidson being shot in the chest with an arrow by Norman Reedus.[14] Over the years, Davidson played a number of characters, the most famous being Chad, an easily distracted apathetic man who first appeared in the season 41 episode hosted by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as a pool boy who becomes entangled with a lonely housewife.
In March 2015, Davidson was a roaster on the Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber, and his set was praised as one of the best of the show.[25] Among his bolder jokes was one at the expenses of fellow roaster Snoop Dogg, host Kevin Hart, and their 2004 film Soul Plane. Davidson, whose firefighter father died responding to the September 11 attacks, called the film "the worst experience of [his] life involving a plane".[14] In 2016, he was placed on the Forbes 30 under 30 list.[26] In April of that year, Comedy Central filmed Davidson's first stand-up special, Pete Davidson: SMD, in New York City.[27]
In January 2019, it was announced that Davidson would be touring with John Mulaney in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts for a limited series of comedy shows titled "Sundays with Pete & John." Mulaney and Davidson have become close appearing together on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live.[28] That May, after the 44th-season finale of SNL, Travis M. Andrews of The Washington Post credited Davidson with being the most memorable performer that season and its breakout star, which Andrews attributed to Davidson's mining of his personal struggles and his admission of his comedic missteps, which Andrews felt gave the season a mixture of comedy and pathos.[29]
Davidson collaborated with Machine Gun Kelly to write the sketch "A Message from the Count" for Kelly's album Hotel Diablo. In 2019 he starred in Jason Orley's Big Time Adolescence, and had supporting roles in Adam Shankman's What Men Want, Jeff Tremaine's The Dirt, Thurop Van Orman's The Angry Birds Movie 2, and John Turturro's The Big Lebowski spin-off The Jesus Rolls. In February 2020, Davidson released his stand up special Alive from New York on Netflix.[30] In May 2020, The King of Staten Island was released, which Davidson both starred in and co-wrote with Judd Apatow, who also directed. Davidson was nominated for The Comedy Movie Star of 2020 for his work in The King of Staten Island and The Comedy Act of 2020 Pete Davidson: Alive from New York at the 46th People's Choice Awards.[31] In April 2021, Davidson was cast as Joey Ramone in a Netflix biopic I Slept With Joey Ramone, based on the late singer's brother's memoir of the same name. Davidson will also serve as co-writer and executive producer.[32] In August 2021, he appeared as Blackguard in The Suicide Squad directed by James Gunn.[33] He voiced Marmaduke in an animated film released on Netflix on May 6, 2022.[34] Following lengthy absences in season 47, it was announced shortly before its finale that it would be Davidson's last on Saturday Night Live.[35]
Stardom and Bupkis (2023–present)
He currently stars in the Peacock original series Bupkis, which premiered on May 4, 2023.[36] The series debuted to mixed reviews with The Guardian describing it as "messy" and compared it unfavorably to other shows writing "Though every piece seems to come from somewhere else, a derivative streak that undercuts the touches of personal specificity. Pete’s existential ambling suggests a dumber Louie, his travails in the surreal demimonde of celebrity suggest a dumber Atlanta, and his dealings with his coterie of hangers-on suggest a slightly less-dumb Entourage."[37]
In 2023 Davidson acted in three high-profile action franchise films. He appeared as Phlektik in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Bowie in Fast X, and voiced Mirage in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
Controversies
Catholic Church–R.Kelly comparison
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn demanded an apology from Davidson in March 2019, after an SNL sketch where he compared the Catholic Church to R. Kelly, an entertainer who had been accused and subsequently convicted of pedophilia. In the sketch, Davidson said, "[Kelly] is a monster and he should go to jail forever. But if you support the Catholic Church, isn't that like the same thing as being an R. Kelly fan? I don't really see the difference, except for one's music is significantly better."[81] In a statement posted on its website, the diocese criticized the "disgraceful and offensive skit" and added, "The faithful of our Church are disgusted by the harassment by those in news and entertainment, and this sketch offends millions. The mockery of this difficult time in the Church's history serves no purpose."[82] Davidson's comments came after the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens agreed to a record $27.5 million settlement for sex abuse allegations in September 2018.[83]
Dan Crenshaw
Davidson was criticized for mocking Republican congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw, who wears an eye patch as a result of a wound incurred while serving in Afghanistan.[84] He compared Crenshaw to "a hitman in a porno movie" and added, "I'm sorry, I know he lost his eye in war or whatever."[85][86][87][88][89] In response to backlash over the comments, Davidson apologized and appeared beside Crenshaw the following Saturday on an SNL Weekend Update segment. Crenshaw accepted Davidson's apology and called on Americans to "never forget" the service and sacrifices of veterans.[90] In his 2020 Netflix special Alive from New York, Davidson implied that the apology had been issued only because he had been told to do so.[91]