WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.240 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we're diving 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:04.740 into someone whose life seems almost tailor -made 00:00:04.740 --> 00:00:07.679 for public consumption. Peter Michael Davidson. 00:00:07.980 --> 00:00:11.179 Yeah, Pete Davidson. Comedian, actor, writer, 00:00:11.380 --> 00:00:15.679 and just this massive public figure. It's quite 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:18.260 a mix. It really is. And his fame isn't just 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:21.739 from his comedy, right? It's this blend of really... 00:00:22.109 --> 00:00:26.210 personal, almost raw stand up and these incredibly 00:00:26.210 --> 00:00:28.989 high profile relationships. Exactly. That's what 00:00:28.989 --> 00:00:30.769 makes him such a fascinating subject for this 00:00:30.769 --> 00:00:33.049 kind of analysis. He's built this career being 00:00:33.049 --> 00:00:36.289 incredibly open while living a life that's constantly 00:00:36.289 --> 00:00:38.689 under the media microscope. So our goal here. 00:00:39.259 --> 00:00:41.380 for you listening is to kind of peel back those 00:00:41.380 --> 00:00:43.600 layers, go beyond the headlines. The gossip bill 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:44.939 will touch on it, obviously. That we don't have 00:00:44.939 --> 00:00:47.119 to. Right. But we want to understand the core 00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:50.719 elements, his life, his career, that unique comedic 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:52.700 voice he has. We've got a lot to work with. We're 00:00:52.700 --> 00:00:55.200 pulling together info on everything, his Staten 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:57.380 Island roots, the whole Saturday Night Live era, 00:00:57.479 --> 00:00:59.200 his health battles, which he's been very open 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:02.100 about. And now this shift into movies, even producing, 00:01:02.219 --> 00:01:04.540 it's quite an arc. It really paints a picture 00:01:04.540 --> 00:01:08.400 of maybe the modern celebrity, someone who uses 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:10.859 vulnerability as their brand. He feels accessible, 00:01:11.219 --> 00:01:14.120 relatable, even when he's, you know, dating Kim 00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:17.799 Kardashian or whoever. He makes chaos seem normal 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:20.439 somehow. Or at least comfortable. Yeah. OK, so 00:01:20.439 --> 00:01:22.540 let's start at the beginning. Staten Island. 00:01:22.980 --> 00:01:26.859 Born November 16th, 1993. And you really can't 00:01:26.859 --> 00:01:28.659 talk about his beginnings without talking about 00:01:28.659 --> 00:01:31.439 the defining trauma of his childhood. Yeah, the 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:34.480 loss of his father. Absolutely central. His dad, 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:37.739 Scott Matthew Davidson, was a New York City firefighter, 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:40.500 Ladder 118. And he died in service during the 00:01:40.500 --> 00:01:42.739 9 -11 attacks. That's right. The sources mention 00:01:42.739 --> 00:01:45.060 he and his unit were last seen going into the 00:01:45.060 --> 00:01:47.239 Marriott World Trade Center right before it collapsed. 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:50.500 Just devastating. And Pete was only seven years 00:01:50.500 --> 00:01:54.180 old. The impact of that. It's hard to fathom. 00:01:55.039 --> 00:01:57.319 especially something so public. He's called it 00:01:57.319 --> 00:01:59.540 overwhelming. And you see the fallout almost 00:01:59.540 --> 00:02:01.500 immediately in his childhood. It wasn't just 00:02:01.500 --> 00:02:04.319 sadness. It manifested in really concerning ways. 00:02:04.519 --> 00:02:06.219 Like how he acted out in school. Yeah, acting 00:02:06.219 --> 00:02:08.039 out, but also physically. He talked about ripping 00:02:08.039 --> 00:02:11.439 his own hair out. Until he was bald. Wow. It's 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:14.080 such a clear, heartbreaking sign of just intense 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:16.699 anxiety, trauma response kicking in at a really 00:02:16.699 --> 00:02:19.120 young age. And it feels like that inability to 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:22.300 process that powerlessness he must have felt. 00:02:23.050 --> 00:02:25.250 That becomes the engine for his comedy later 00:02:25.250 --> 00:02:27.909 on. It really does. He weaponizes it in a way. 00:02:27.949 --> 00:02:32.110 But before comedy, he had this fairly typical 00:02:32.110 --> 00:02:35.229 New York upbringing in some ways, raised Catholic. 00:02:35.349 --> 00:02:37.409 But a mix of backgrounds, right? Jewish, German, 00:02:37.509 --> 00:02:39.990 Irish, Italian. Yeah, a real melting pot. And 00:02:39.990 --> 00:02:42.669 his school life reflected that early chaos, too. 00:02:42.789 --> 00:02:44.469 He went to a few different high schools. Finally 00:02:44.469 --> 00:02:47.889 graduated from Zaverian High in 2011, then a 00:02:47.889 --> 00:02:50.500 brief stint in college. Very brief. One semester 00:02:50.500 --> 00:02:52.500 at St. Francis College, then he dropped out. 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:55.259 It seems pretty clear that the traditional path 00:02:55.259 --> 00:02:57.099 just wasn't going to work for him. Because he'd 00:02:57.099 --> 00:02:59.219 already found something else. Comedy. And the 00:02:59.219 --> 00:03:02.139 story of how he started is kind of perfect, Pete 00:03:02.139 --> 00:03:05.139 Davidson. Bowling alley dare. Exactly. 16 years 00:03:05.139 --> 00:03:08.180 old, Staten Island bowling alley. Friends dared 00:03:08.180 --> 00:03:10.639 him to get up on stage. One of those friends, 00:03:10.699 --> 00:03:12.979 interestingly, was Matthew Festa, who went on 00:03:12.979 --> 00:03:16.280 to play Major League Baseball. Ah, no way. So 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:19.199 just pure impulse. Seems like it. Low stakes, 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:22.020 high challenge. And that was it. And things moved 00:03:22.020 --> 00:03:25.300 pretty fast after that. Yeah. By 2013, 2014, 00:03:25.659 --> 00:03:28.680 he's already getting TV gigs. Yeah, mostly on 00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:32.110 MTV at first. Shows like Philosophy, Guy Code. 00:03:32.449 --> 00:03:35.229 Wasn't he on Wild and Out too? He was multiple 00:03:35.229 --> 00:03:38.229 times. Six appearances, the sources say. Which 00:03:38.229 --> 00:03:40.389 is great training, right? Improv, working on 00:03:40.389 --> 00:03:42.389 camera. Definitely. And he did some scripted 00:03:42.389 --> 00:03:44.389 stuff too, like Brooklyn Nine -Nine. And even 00:03:44.389 --> 00:03:47.189 an unaired pilot for Fox, Sober Companion, back 00:03:47.189 --> 00:03:49.930 in 2014. So he was building this resume, getting 00:03:49.930 --> 00:03:52.110 noticed. Setting himself up for the big one. 00:03:52.210 --> 00:03:54.210 The absolute game changer. Saturday Night Live. 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:56.620 Okay, let's shift gears then. Talk about the 00:03:56.620 --> 00:03:58.560 SNL breakthrough and how that shaped his whole 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:01.919 comedic approach. Joining SNL in September 2014 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:05.900 for season 40. I mean, that's huge for any comedian. 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:08.659 He was so young. 20 years old. Yeah, one of the 00:04:08.659 --> 00:04:10.500 youngest ever cast members. And significantly 00:04:10.500 --> 00:04:12.879 the first one born in the 1990s. He was literally 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:15.460 the new generation walking in. But how he got 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:18.100 the audition. It wasn't exactly walking in off 00:04:18.100 --> 00:04:20.500 the street. No, not at all. It was a connection. 00:04:20.759 --> 00:04:24.050 Bill Hader. Ah, right. From the movie Trainwreck. 00:04:24.170 --> 00:04:26.470 Exactly. Davidson had a small part in it, filmed 00:04:26.470 --> 00:04:29.529 in 2014, released 2015. Hader was in it too. 00:04:29.629 --> 00:04:33.230 Saw something in Davidson, that raw kind of awkward 00:04:33.230 --> 00:04:35.850 energy, the talent beneath it. And Hader just 00:04:35.850 --> 00:04:38.470 called Lorne Michaels? Pretty much. Recommended 00:04:38.470 --> 00:04:40.709 him directly. That's a massive endorsement. It's 00:04:40.709 --> 00:04:43.290 that classic right place, right time, plus talent 00:04:43.290 --> 00:04:46.129 story. And once he was on the show, his style 00:04:46.129 --> 00:04:49.939 was noticeable right away. Yeah. playing with 00:04:49.939 --> 00:04:52.279 that youth that almost indifference sometimes 00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:55.000 you nailed it with indifference look at chad 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:57.879 oh chad the ultimate slacker character right 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:00.360 just okay to absolutely everything no matter 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:03.879 how insane the situation it was so minimal But 00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:05.819 it hit a nerve, especially with younger viewers. 00:05:05.959 --> 00:05:09.480 That kind of Gen Z apathy personified. And he 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:11.360 wasn't afraid to get weird or uncomfortable either, 00:05:11.420 --> 00:05:13.079 like that sketch with The Rock. Oh, yeah, the 00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:15.319 Indiana Jones poison -sucking sketch. That definitely 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:17.220 pushed some buttons. It started like a classic 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:19.480 adventure movie parody. And then just descended 00:05:19.480 --> 00:05:22.319 into this bizarre, homoerotic, mutual poison 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:25.040 -sucking thing, ending in, well, a 69 position. 00:05:25.500 --> 00:05:28.759 It was a signal, wasn't it? That he and maybe 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:31.639 that newer cast were willing to go to some strange 00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:34.310 places for a laugh. make people squirm a bit 00:05:34.310 --> 00:05:36.550 definitely he stayed for eight seasons which 00:05:36.550 --> 00:05:40.250 is a long run but towards the end season 47 he 00:05:40.250 --> 00:05:42.430 was missing quite a bit yeah there were noticeable 00:05:42.430 --> 00:05:45.089 absences and then the official announcement came 00:05:45.089 --> 00:05:48.370 just before the season finale in may 2022 but 00:05:48.370 --> 00:05:51.290 those eight years really forged his public image 00:05:51.290 --> 00:05:53.449 and cemented that comedy style we keep talking 00:05:53.449 --> 00:05:56.050 about the brutal honesty yeah let's dig into 00:05:56.050 --> 00:05:57.990 that philosophy because it really is what sets 00:05:57.990 --> 00:06:00.550 him apart it's built on just radical self -exposure 00:06:00.550 --> 00:06:03.079 isn't it using his own life, warts and all, as 00:06:03.079 --> 00:06:05.420 the material. Totally. It's observational, it's 00:06:05.420 --> 00:06:08.480 dark, sometimes surreal, but the core is confession. 00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:11.319 Critics have called it like a series of brutal 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:13.899 truths and vulgar confessions. And then the topics. 00:06:14.620 --> 00:06:19.459 Awkwardness, drugs, sex, his mental health. Nothing 00:06:19.459 --> 00:06:21.959 seems off limits. Nothing. Especially, and this 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:24.399 is the really unique part, the death of his father. 00:06:24.620 --> 00:06:27.199 Which is just incredibly sensitive territory. 00:06:27.620 --> 00:06:30.600 Most comics might allude to trauma, but he tackles 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:33.490 it head on. Puts it in punchlines. He does. And 00:06:33.490 --> 00:06:35.589 he's actually explained why. He said that loss 00:06:35.589 --> 00:06:39.149 made him feel powerless as a kid and making jokes 00:06:39.149 --> 00:06:42.310 about it, turning that tragedy into comedy. It's 00:06:42.310 --> 00:06:44.529 his way of taking the power back. It's catharsis 00:06:44.529 --> 00:06:47.310 for him. A very public form of catharsis. Extremely 00:06:47.310 --> 00:06:50.230 public. And you could argue monetized catharsis. 00:06:50.290 --> 00:06:52.490 That's the tension, isn't it? Is it therapy or 00:06:52.490 --> 00:06:55.970 is it commerce? Or both? I think for the audience, 00:06:56.089 --> 00:06:59.250 it reads as authenticity. That's the key. When 00:06:59.250 --> 00:07:01.779 he's that vulnerable. It kind of gives permission 00:07:01.779 --> 00:07:04.100 for everyone else to laugh at their own uncomfortable 00:07:04.100 --> 00:07:07.379 truths. It's relatable, even at its snorkest. 00:07:07.480 --> 00:07:09.259 And that approach led to stand -up specials. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:11.519 Three main ones we should mention. Pete Davidson, 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:14.899 SMD back in 2016, then Alive from New York in 00:07:14.899 --> 00:07:18.439 2020, and Turbo Fonzarelli just this year, 2024. 00:07:18.980 --> 00:07:20.980 But maybe the moment that really defined his 00:07:20.980 --> 00:07:23.560 nothing -is -off -limits approach was the Justin 00:07:23.560 --> 00:07:26.600 Bieber roast. Oh, the 2015 Comedy Central roast, 00:07:26.779 --> 00:07:29.839 yes. That set was legendarily edgy. Because of 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:32.319 that joke. The Soul Plane joke, yeah. Aimed at 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:34.339 Snoop Dogg and Kevin Hart, who are in the movie. 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:36.720 Remind us of the line. He said, referring to 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:39.560 the movie Soul Plane, that it was the worst experience 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:42.279 of my life involving a plane, and then directly 00:07:42.279 --> 00:07:45.300 connected it to his father dying on 9 -11. It's 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:48.620 just breathtakingly dark. But it works, because 00:07:48.620 --> 00:07:50.779 he's the one saying it about his trauma. Precisely. 00:07:50.779 --> 00:07:52.980 He owns the pain, so he gets to make the joke. 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:56.180 It signals nothing is sacred. And people noticed. 00:07:56.360 --> 00:07:59.480 He landed on the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2016. 00:07:59.660 --> 00:08:02.660 The recognition came fast. That commitment to 00:08:02.660 --> 00:08:05.319 putting everything out there. It becomes even 00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:07.819 more complex when you layer in his actual health 00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:10.240 struggles. Yeah. Which are deeply tied to his 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:13.060 comedy. Absolutely critical context. And he's 00:08:13.060 --> 00:08:15.459 been incredibly open here, too. First, physically, 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:17.560 he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease when he 00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:20.439 was about 17 or 18. Which is a serious chronic 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:23.420 inflammatory bowel condition. Painful requires 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:25.920 ongoing management. Right. He gets intravenous 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:28.319 biologic therapy for it. And he initially used 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:30.199 marijuana, partly for pain management with the 00:08:30.199 --> 00:08:32.580 Crohn's, partly recreationally. Then came the 00:08:32.580 --> 00:08:36.000 sobriety announcement in 2017. March 2017. He 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:37.899 said he was sober for the first time in eight 00:08:37.899 --> 00:08:41.100 years, quit drugs. But then he kind of revised 00:08:41.100 --> 00:08:43.820 that story later, didn't he? On Marc Maron's 00:08:43.820 --> 00:08:45.840 podcast. He did. And this is really important. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:48.539 He went on WTF and basically said, look, I thought 00:08:48.539 --> 00:08:50.740 my problems, the emotional stuff, the impulsivity 00:08:50.740 --> 00:08:53.039 were because of the weed. But it wasn't just 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:56.059 the marijuana. No. He revealed he'd been newly 00:08:56.059 --> 00:08:58.220 diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:01.279 BPD. And he realized that was the underlying 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:03.379 cause of a lot of the issues he'd blamed on pot. 00:09:03.779 --> 00:09:07.539 Wow. That's a huge thing to share publicly. BPD 00:09:07.539 --> 00:09:10.240 carries a lot of stigma. It involves intense 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:13.919 mood swings, trouble with relationships, impulsivity. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:16.159 It maps pretty closely to his public persona, 00:09:16.340 --> 00:09:18.120 honestly. And he said he's been in treatment 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:20.919 for it since the diagnosis. And being so open 00:09:20.919 --> 00:09:24.279 about BPD? It further cemented that brand of 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:26.740 radical honesty, didn't it? Made him seem even 00:09:26.740 --> 00:09:29.879 more relatable battling these real demons. Definitely. 00:09:29.899 --> 00:09:32.059 It normalized talking about a really complex 00:09:32.059 --> 00:09:34.080 mental health condition for a huge audience. 00:09:34.179 --> 00:09:36.700 But that vulnerability also comes with periods 00:09:36.700 --> 00:09:39.419 of real public crisis. Like in December 2018. 00:09:40.190 --> 00:09:43.129 Yeah, that was scary. He posted some really concerning 00:09:43.129 --> 00:09:45.889 stuff on Instagram, hinting at suicidal thoughts, 00:09:46.129 --> 00:09:48.269 then deleted his account. And the police got 00:09:48.269 --> 00:09:51.350 involved. NYPD did a wellness check because people 00:09:51.350 --> 00:09:53.590 were genuinely worried. It became this big public 00:09:53.590 --> 00:09:56.149 event. Even Ariana Grande, his recent ex -fiancee 00:09:56.149 --> 00:09:59.169 at the time, expressed concern online. Yet almost 00:09:59.169 --> 00:10:01.830 immediately, he filters that experience through 00:10:01.830 --> 00:10:04.549 comedy, too. It's his default setting. Just a 00:10:04.549 --> 00:10:07.549 few weeks later, January 2019, he's on Weekend 00:10:07.549 --> 00:10:10.149 Update with John Mulaney making jokes about the 00:10:10.149 --> 00:10:13.330 incident, turning the scary into satire. It's 00:10:13.330 --> 00:10:15.090 a pattern. Process trauma through performance. 00:10:15.350 --> 00:10:18.909 Exactly. And now we're seeing this maybe desire 00:10:18.909 --> 00:10:22.009 for a change, a clean slate reflected even in 00:10:22.009 --> 00:10:24.269 his appearance, the tattoos. Right. He had so 00:10:24.269 --> 00:10:28.100 many. Hundreds. Around 200, the sources say. 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:31.019 Often very specific marking moments or relationships. 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:33.279 Kind of a walking diary. And now he's getting 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:36.539 them removed. Most of them. By 2025, aiming to 00:10:36.539 --> 00:10:38.879 keep just a couple, he said it himself. He wants 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:41.340 a clean slate. He's trying to be an adult. Removing 00:10:41.340 --> 00:10:44.440 the visual record of the chaos. That's a powerful 00:10:44.440 --> 00:10:47.279 symbolic move. It really is. A statement about 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:49.519 wanting to move into a different phase. But of 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:52.120 course, the public focus rarely stays on his 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:56.009 tattoos or his psyche for long. It snaps right 00:10:56.009 --> 00:10:58.090 back to his relationships. Which is, let's be 00:10:58.090 --> 00:11:00.309 honest, the engine driving a huge amount of the 00:11:00.309 --> 00:11:02.570 media attention around him. It's undeniable. 00:11:02.690 --> 00:11:05.710 His gating life is a spectacle. He often dates 00:11:05.710 --> 00:11:09.190 women who are vastly more famous, at least initially. 00:11:09.450 --> 00:11:11.629 Which just catapults his own fame. It started 00:11:11.629 --> 00:11:14.610 more within his world comedian Carly Aquilino 00:11:14.610 --> 00:11:17.370 than Kazzy David, Larry David's daughter, from 00:11:17.370 --> 00:11:21.970 2016 to 2018. And then came the explosion. Ariana 00:11:21.970 --> 00:11:25.639 Grande. 2018. That was the relationship that 00:11:25.639 --> 00:11:29.059 took him from SNL guy to global tabloid fixture. 00:11:29.220 --> 00:11:31.659 It was incredibly fast and intense. He started 00:11:31.659 --> 00:11:34.820 dating in May, engaged by June. Yeah, a whirlwind 00:11:34.820 --> 00:11:37.019 engagement. The scrutiny was unbelievable, and 00:11:37.019 --> 00:11:39.220 then it ended just as quickly in October 2018. 00:11:39.700 --> 00:11:41.600 And the context around the breakup was so heavy, 00:11:41.659 --> 00:11:43.480 too, with Mac Miller's tragic death happening 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:45.679 shortly before. Right. That added this layer 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:48.159 of public grief and pressure onto an already 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:50.620 hyper -visible split. It became more than just 00:11:50.620 --> 00:11:53.539 celebrity gossip. But the cultural impact lingered. 00:11:53.899 --> 00:11:56.539 She wrote songs about him. Yeah, the track literally 00:11:56.539 --> 00:11:58.860 titled Pete Davidson. And of course, the massive 00:11:58.860 --> 00:12:01.340 hit, Thank You, Next. Even almost got married. 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:04.980 And for Pete, I'm so thankful. That line was 00:12:04.980 --> 00:12:07.539 everywhere. It was remarkably gracious. And beyond 00:12:07.539 --> 00:12:09.940 the music, that relationship is largely credited 00:12:09.940 --> 00:12:13.720 with popularizing the term. Big Dick Energy, 00:12:13.980 --> 00:12:17.090 BDE. That's right. B -D -E. Which became this 00:12:17.090 --> 00:12:19.929 weird cultural shorthand for his specific brand 00:12:19.929 --> 00:12:22.529 of laid -back, confident charm that didn't fit 00:12:22.529 --> 00:12:25.350 the usual Hollywood mold. It totally set the 00:12:25.350 --> 00:12:28.610 stage for what came next. A series of very public, 00:12:28.750 --> 00:12:31.950 often shorter -term romances. Kept him constantly 00:12:31.950 --> 00:12:34.210 in the headlines. Kate Beckinsale was a big one. 00:12:34.490 --> 00:12:36.230 Mostly because of the age gap. She's 20 years 00:12:36.230 --> 00:12:38.210 older, right? And he actually used the media 00:12:38.210 --> 00:12:40.669 frenzy about that on SNL. He did. Turned it right 00:12:40.669 --> 00:12:42.850 back around. He basically said, why is everyone 00:12:42.850 --> 00:12:45.009 freaking out about my age gap? When older guys 00:12:45.009 --> 00:12:47.129 date much younger women all the time. Exactly. 00:12:47.210 --> 00:12:49.870 He called out Leonardo DiCaprio, Larry King, 00:12:50.029 --> 00:12:53.090 even Donald Trump by name. Classic Davidson move. 00:12:53.409 --> 00:12:55.429 Absorb the hit, then deflect with an observation 00:12:55.429 --> 00:12:58.250 about media hypocrisy. Who else was in that phase? 00:12:58.309 --> 00:13:02.179 Margaret Qualley. Yep. Briefly. Yeah. Then model 00:13:02.179 --> 00:13:06.000 Kaya Gerber and Phoebe Dynevor from Bridgerton. 00:13:06.259 --> 00:13:09.000 That ended apparently due to distance. And then 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:12.840 came Kim, Kim Kardashian, which brought a whole 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:15.820 new level of chaos. Unprecedented levels. It 00:13:15.820 --> 00:13:18.820 started after she hosted SNL in October 2021. 00:13:19.179 --> 00:13:21.019 They did that sketch together. The Aladdin and 00:13:21.019 --> 00:13:22.899 Jasmine kiss. Right. And they started dating 00:13:22.899 --> 00:13:26.559 officially in November 2021. But the story of 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:28.899 their relationship is almost inseparable from 00:13:28.899 --> 00:13:31.580 the conflict with her ex, Kanye West. Oh, man, 00:13:31.700 --> 00:13:35.379 that was intense and very public. It was relentless. 00:13:35.500 --> 00:13:38.440 Kanye targeted Davidson constantly on social 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:41.899 media, calling him names. Skeet dickhead and 00:13:41.899 --> 00:13:44.559 that bizarre Hillary Clinton's ex -boyfriend 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:46.440 insult. Because Pete has that Hillary tattoo. 00:13:46.700 --> 00:13:49.419 It's just layers of surreal celebrity feud. And 00:13:49.419 --> 00:13:51.840 Kanye put it in his music, too. The track Easy 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:54.399 had the line about wanting to beat Pete Davidson's 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:56.659 ass. In the music video, the claymation figure 00:13:56.659 --> 00:13:58.980 of Pete being buried alive. That was disturbing. 00:13:59.220 --> 00:14:01.100 Deeply disturbing. It was like a public digital 00:14:01.100 --> 00:14:03.779 harassment campaign. How did Pete handle it? 00:14:03.860 --> 00:14:06.320 He seemed pretty quiet through most of it. Mostly 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:09.759 silent, yeah. Which weirdly worked in his favor. 00:14:10.250 --> 00:14:12.350 By not engaging much publicly, he almost came 00:14:12.350 --> 00:14:14.350 across as the more mature one in the situation. 00:14:14.750 --> 00:14:17.450 The chaos swirled around him, but he didn't seem 00:14:17.450 --> 00:14:20.110 to add to it. And that relationship lasted about 00:14:20.110 --> 00:14:23.929 nine months. They split in August 2022. Correct. 00:14:24.169 --> 00:14:26.889 Since then, the pace has maybe slowed slightly, 00:14:27.110 --> 00:14:30.690 but the pattern continues. He dated Chase Suey 00:14:30.690 --> 00:14:33.509 Wonders. Who he met on a film set, Bodies, Bodies, 00:14:33.509 --> 00:14:35.690 Bodies. And she was in his show, Bupkis, too. 00:14:35.850 --> 00:14:38.799 Right. Then actress Madeline Klein for a while. 00:14:38.899 --> 00:14:41.220 This brings us right up to the present and maybe 00:14:41.220 --> 00:14:44.220 the biggest shift yet in his personal life, Elsie 00:14:44.220 --> 00:14:46.759 Hewitt. Model and actress Elsie Hewitt. They 00:14:46.759 --> 00:14:49.220 started dating around March 2025, made their 00:14:49.220 --> 00:14:51.700 red carpet debut in May, moved in together. Things 00:14:51.700 --> 00:14:54.120 moved quickly. But the really big news dropped 00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:57.299 in July 2025. Yeah. Hewitt announced on Instagram 00:14:57.299 --> 00:15:00.019 they're expecting their first child. Wow. That 00:15:00.019 --> 00:15:02.919 changed everything. Fatherhood for Pete Davidson. 00:15:03.370 --> 00:15:06.529 It's a massive turning point. The guy whose persona 00:15:06.529 --> 00:15:08.929 is built on this kind of arrested development, 00:15:09.129 --> 00:15:12.769 this chaotic energy, now facing the reality of 00:15:12.769 --> 00:15:15.690 being a dad. You have to wonder how that reshapes 00:15:15.690 --> 00:15:18.149 the comedian, the confessor. We'll definitely 00:15:18.149 --> 00:15:20.190 circle back to that. But first, let's talk about 00:15:20.190 --> 00:15:23.210 how he actually leveraged that SNL fame and persona 00:15:23.210 --> 00:15:26.690 into a legitimate movie career. pretty successful. 00:15:26.789 --> 00:15:30.049 Surprisingly robust, yeah. And often the roles 00:15:30.049 --> 00:15:33.049 feel like extensions of him. The absolute key 00:15:33.049 --> 00:15:36.370 project here is The King of Staten Island. The 00:15:36.370 --> 00:15:39.659 2020 film with Judd Apatow directing. That was 00:15:39.659 --> 00:15:42.039 semi -autobiographical, right? Deeply. He co 00:15:42.039 --> 00:15:44.200 -wrote it, starred as Scott Carlin, a character 00:15:44.200 --> 00:15:47.399 grappling with the exact same core trauma. Firefighter 00:15:47.399 --> 00:15:50.240 father lost on 9 -11, struggles with motivation, 00:15:50.500 --> 00:15:52.500 mental health. It felt like therapy on screen. 00:15:52.779 --> 00:15:54.879 It really did, like a two -plus -hour processing 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:58.039 session. But it worked critically, got him award 00:15:58.039 --> 00:16:00.480 nominations. It showed his personal story had 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:02.940 weight, could carry a major film. And beyond 00:16:02.940 --> 00:16:04.820 that personal project, he's popped up in some 00:16:04.820 --> 00:16:07.679 huge franchises, usually in smaller, specific 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:10.090 kinds of roles. Yeah, it's interesting how he's 00:16:10.090 --> 00:16:13.370 used often the lovable screw -up, the comic relief, 00:16:13.590 --> 00:16:15.549 sometimes the guy who gets killed off quickly, 00:16:15.690 --> 00:16:18.429 like Blackard in The Suicide Squad. Right. Dies 00:16:18.429 --> 00:16:21.830 almost immediately. And 2023 was huge for cameos. 00:16:22.029 --> 00:16:24.450 He was Flektik in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 00:16:24.629 --> 00:16:28.490 3, Bowie in Fast X, the voice of Mirage in Transformers, 00:16:28.490 --> 00:16:30.809 Rise of the Beasts. He's suddenly everywhere 00:16:30.809 --> 00:16:33.549 in these blockbusters. Yeah. Shows real mainstream 00:16:33.549 --> 00:16:36.990 reach beyond comedy fans. He even voiced Marmaduke 00:16:36.990 --> 00:16:41.149 the Dog in 2020. Marmaduke. Okay. But when he 00:16:41.149 --> 00:16:43.169 tried to translate his life directly into a TV 00:16:43.169 --> 00:16:45.750 series again with Bupkis, the reaction was more 00:16:45.750 --> 00:16:48.970 mixed. Bupkis, yeah. The Peacock series from 00:16:48.970 --> 00:16:52.669 2023, he starred, co -wrote, heavily fictionalized 00:16:52.669 --> 00:16:54.970 version of his life again. And critics found 00:16:54.970 --> 00:16:58.289 it a bit derivative. Some did. The Guardian called 00:16:58.289 --> 00:17:01.169 it messy, compared it to shows like Louis, Atlanta, 00:17:01.529 --> 00:17:03.750 even Entourage, which are tough comparisons. 00:17:03.830 --> 00:17:06.529 So the idea of a messy comedian dealing with 00:17:06.529 --> 00:17:10.799 fame. Maybe felt less fresh in that format. Potentially. 00:17:10.819 --> 00:17:12.980 While his life is unique, the structure of that 00:17:12.980 --> 00:17:14.940 show wasn't groundbreaking. And it's telling 00:17:14.940 --> 00:17:17.000 that even though it got renewed for season two. 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:19.720 Lock away. He chose not to move forward, which 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:21.880 again seems to fit this narrative he's building 00:17:21.880 --> 00:17:25.420 about wanting control, maybe wanting that clean 00:17:25.420 --> 00:17:28.160 slate, not just being locked into retelling the 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:30.380 same stories. It feels like a conscious choice 00:17:30.380 --> 00:17:32.400 to manage his own narrative more carefully now. 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:35.000 Absolutely. And speaking of unconventional choices 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:38.420 and blurred lines, some of his off -screen ventures 00:17:38.420 --> 00:17:40.799 are pretty wild. Okay, you have to start with 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:43.539 the ferry, the Staten Island Ferry. It's peak 00:17:43.539 --> 00:17:46.740 absurdity, isn't it? He and Colin Jost, his SNL 00:17:46.740 --> 00:17:49.660 buddy, actually bought a decommissioned Staten 00:17:49.660 --> 00:17:52.680 Island ferry boat in 2023. What were they planning 00:17:52.680 --> 00:17:55.220 to do with it? A comedy club? That was the rumor. 00:17:55.339 --> 00:17:57.880 Or maybe an art space. Vague clans. But then 00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:00.500 it actually got used in a horror movie called 00:18:00.500 --> 00:18:02.779 Screamboat. Of course it did. It's just perfect 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:04.960 Pete Davidson logic. Buy a ferry, it ends up 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:07.140 in a horror movie. It exemplifies that kind of 00:18:07.140 --> 00:18:10.019 casual, almost accidental engagement with massive, 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:12.019 weird projects. And he almost went to space. 00:18:13.299 --> 00:18:16.019 Almost. He was scheduled to be an honorary guest 00:18:16.019 --> 00:18:19.480 on a Blue Origin flight, NS20, in March 2022. 00:18:20.019 --> 00:18:21.880 What happened? The flight got rescheduled and 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:23.799 then the announcement came that he was no longer 00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:26.960 able to join. He missed becoming astronaut Pete 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:28.839 by that much. Which would have just been another 00:18:28.839 --> 00:18:31.410 level of strange fame. Totally. And then there 00:18:31.410 --> 00:18:33.990 are moments where the impulsivity has real world 00:18:33.990 --> 00:18:37.990 impacts, like the car crash in March 2023. Right. 00:18:38.130 --> 00:18:40.390 He crashed into a house. Right. Late at night. 00:18:40.450 --> 00:18:42.849 No one hurt, thankfully. Full injuries, thankfully. 00:18:43.130 --> 00:18:45.529 But he was charged with misdemeanor reckless 00:18:45.529 --> 00:18:48.210 driving. And he had consequences for that. Yeah. 00:18:48.309 --> 00:18:50.930 He ended up agreeing to community service 50 00:18:50.930 --> 00:18:54.049 hours and 12 hours of traffic school. So, you 00:18:54.049 --> 00:18:55.789 know, public actions, public accountability. 00:18:55.990 --> 00:18:58.980 Life isn't just material. Well, speaking of testing 00:18:58.980 --> 00:19:01.519 boundaries and accountability, his comedy is 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:03.680 definitely cross -line sometimes. Let's talk 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:05.900 controversies. It's inevitable with his style, 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:08.640 right? Insult comedy, black comedy, it pushes 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:11.099 buttons. One of the biggest backlashes was over 00:19:11.099 --> 00:19:14.559 the R. Kelly joke in 2019. On SNL, comparing 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:17.359 the Catholic Church to supporting R. Kelly. Specifically, 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:19.839 he said, I don't really see the difference, except 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:22.599 for one's music is significantly better. Oof, 00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:25.430 and the timing was crucial there. Extremely. 00:19:25.470 --> 00:19:28.250 It came right after the Diocese of Brooklyn had 00:19:28.250 --> 00:19:32.309 settled major sex abuse cases for millions, $27 00:19:32.309 --> 00:19:36.750 .5 million in 2018. So the church was understandably 00:19:36.750 --> 00:19:39.170 outraged. The diocese called it disgraceful, 00:19:39.190 --> 00:19:42.210 demanded an apology. It hit a very raw nerve, 00:19:42.410 --> 00:19:45.529 connecting satire to real profound suffering 00:19:45.529 --> 00:19:47.549 and institutional failure. Then there was the 00:19:47.549 --> 00:19:50.369 Dan Crenshaw incident, mocking a politician's 00:19:50.369 --> 00:19:53.089 war wound. That was 2018 Weekend Update again. 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:55.539 He went after Dan Crenshaw, who was then a Republican 00:19:55.539 --> 00:19:58.220 candidate for Congress. Crenshaw wears an eye 00:19:58.220 --> 00:20:00.480 patch from an injury in Afghanistan. And Davidson 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:02.660 compared him to... A hitman in a porno movie. 00:20:02.900 --> 00:20:05.119 And then added that dismissive line, I'm sorry, 00:20:05.180 --> 00:20:07.319 I know he lost his eye in war or whatever. That 00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:10.559 whatever really landed badly. Terribly. The backlash 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:13.460 was instant and bipartisan. You just don't mock 00:20:13.460 --> 00:20:15.839 a veteran's combat injury like that. But the 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:19.970 way they handled it was... Kind of remarkable. 00:20:20.150 --> 00:20:22.589 It was masterful, really. The next week on SNL, 00:20:22.609 --> 00:20:24.289 Davidson didn't just give a statement. He brought 00:20:24.289 --> 00:20:26.609 Dan Crenshaw out with him. Right, on the show. 00:20:26.869 --> 00:20:29.829 Crenshaw accepted the apology, got in a few jokes 00:20:29.829 --> 00:20:32.789 at Pete's expense, but then pivoted. He used 00:20:32.789 --> 00:20:35.089 the moment to talk about veterans, about unity, 00:20:35.269 --> 00:20:38.029 about remembering sacrifice. It turned this really 00:20:38.029 --> 00:20:40.670 ugly moment into something surprisingly constructive. 00:20:41.269 --> 00:20:43.809 And let Pete take responsibility in a very public 00:20:43.809 --> 00:20:46.720 way. Exactly. It showed a capacity for handling 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:49.900 criticism when he genuinely crossed a line. And 00:20:49.900 --> 00:20:52.059 it's worth noting his own politics are pretty 00:20:52.059 --> 00:20:55.480 clear. Liberal. Yeah. Supported Hillary Clinton 00:20:55.480 --> 00:20:59.039 got the tattoo. Supported Biden. Right. So the 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:01.140 Crenshaw apology was notable because it showed 00:21:01.140 --> 00:21:03.359 he could engage respectfully even across that 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:05.799 political divide when the issue warranted it. 00:21:05.900 --> 00:21:08.299 OK, so we've covered a lot. The trauma, the comedy, 00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:10.220 the health, the relationships, the career moves, 00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:12.700 the controversies. Let's try to synthesize this. 00:21:12.819 --> 00:21:15.099 What's the core takeaway about Pete Davidson? 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:18.519 I think it comes back to that transparency. His 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:20.440 willingness to put everything out there, the 00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:23.900 grief over his dad, the BPD, the Crohn's, the 00:21:23.900 --> 00:21:26.559 messy relationships that is the brand. He connects 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:29.970 because of the flaws, not despite them. Precisely. 00:21:29.990 --> 00:21:33.130 He's the ultimate confessional comedian. He turns 00:21:33.130 --> 00:21:36.250 his personal struggles into relatable, funny, 00:21:36.390 --> 00:21:39.930 sometimes shocking content. And it works. And 00:21:39.930 --> 00:21:42.230 he's managed to build a serious, multifaceted 00:21:42.230 --> 00:21:46.190 career out of it. From youngest SNL guy to movie 00:21:46.190 --> 00:21:49.490 star producer. And now soon to be father. That's 00:21:49.490 --> 00:21:52.130 the big unknown variable. Right. Because everything 00:21:52.130 --> 00:21:54.779 we know about him. suggests this constant drive 00:21:54.779 --> 00:21:57.200 towards a clean slate now. Removing tattoos, 00:21:57.460 --> 00:22:00.420 quitting bupkas, settling down, having a kid. 00:22:00.599 --> 00:22:02.839 It seems like a genuine desire for maturity, 00:22:03.019 --> 00:22:06.680 for stability, which feels almost... antithetical 00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:09.099 to the chaotic energy that fueled his rise. So 00:22:09.099 --> 00:22:10.980 that really is the big question for him and maybe 00:22:10.980 --> 00:22:13.700 for you listening to consider. Can he maintain 00:22:13.700 --> 00:22:16.039 that confessional style, that vulnerability that 00:22:16.039 --> 00:22:18.500 people connect with, if his life genuinely becomes 00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:21.000 more stable? Or does the chaos just shift? Will 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:23.279 fatherhood, with all its inherent messiness and 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:25.660 challenges, simply become the new raw material 00:22:25.660 --> 00:22:27.859 for his comedy? Will we get routines about changing 00:22:27.859 --> 00:22:29.779 diapers and sleep deprivation instead of dating 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:33.240 drama? It's entirely possible. It will be fascinating 00:22:33.240 --> 00:22:36.140 to see how this guy who built a career on processing 00:22:36.140 --> 00:22:39.359 past trauma and current chaos navigates this 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:42.940 next phase. Balancing a desire for a quiet life 00:22:42.940 --> 00:22:46.500 with a public persona built on exposure. That 00:22:46.500 --> 00:22:48.519 evolution from the kid joking about his dad's 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:50.259 death to a man about to become a dad himself. 00:22:50.740 --> 00:22:52.799 That's the next chapter we'll all be watching. 00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:55.359 No doubt. It's the most significant turn in the 00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:57.960 Pete Davidson story yet. And that concludes our 00:22:57.960 --> 00:23:00.339 deep dive for today. Hopefully this gives you 00:23:00.339 --> 00:23:02.220 a much richer picture of the person behind all 00:23:02.220 --> 00:23:02.640 those headlines.