Tabloid attention focusing on Pete Davidson’s various romantic relationships has turned the “Saturday Night Live” alum into a frequent target for late night comedians and sketch comedy shows. Davidson, who starred on “SNL” for seven seasons and left the show in 2022, recently told “The Walking Dead” and “The Punisher” actor Jon Bernthal on the latter’s “Real Ones” podcast (via People) that he could stomach all of the roasting until it hit too close to home.
“Suddenly you’re in this zeitgeist and that has nothing to do with the work,” Davidson said. “And that’s a really shitty feeling. I became more known before the work was there, but I was always working. I’m cool with the joke. I get the late-night jokes.”
It’s when “Saturday Night Live” started cracking jokes at the expense of Davidson’s personal life that he took an emotional hit.
“When your own show [pokes fun at you],” Davidson said. “I’d be sitting in the back watching the cold open and — the cold open [is] topical, political humor, whatever’s in the culture. And then, making fun of you. Then you’ve gotta walk out and do a sketch next and hit your mark and the show just made fun of you. So, why are they gonna laugh at you? Like, they just dogged you in front of everyone…And you’re like, ‘I’m a fucking loser, man.’”
Davidson continued, “These are the people I’ve been with for almost a decade. I grew up in front of these people. They’ve watched me through the most difficult time in my life, and they’ve been there for me. And nobody ever showed more leeway and grace to me than [‘SNL’ creator] Lorne Michaels, and I owe my life to that guy, but it was fucking confusing cause the nature of entertainment is the nature of this business. At the end of the day, that’s what it is. This was a really difficult thing to do. You feel small. You feel super insecure.”
There’s no hard feelings between Davidson and Michaels, as the two are collaborators on the upcoming Peacock comedy series “Bupkis.” Davidson co-created the series, which is billed as a “highly fictionalized version” of the comedian’s life. He stars in the series opposite Edie Falco and Joe Pesci. “Bupkis” debuts May 4 on Peacock.