Pete Davidson

2.1. Birth and Family

Peter Michael Davidson was born on November 16, 1993, in Staten Island, New York City. His parents are Amy (née Waters) and Scott Matthew Davidson. His father, Scott, was a New York City firefighter assigned to Ladder 118. Scott Davidson died in service during the September 11 attacks in 2001, along with the rest of his unit. 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, who was seven years old at the time, was profoundly affected by this loss. He has a younger sister named Casey. His father was predominantly of Jewish ancestry, with some distant German, Irish, and Italian roots, while his mother is of mostly Irish ancestry, with some distant German roots. Davidson was raised Catholic.

2.2. Childhood and Education

The trauma from his father's death was "overwhelming" for Davidson, leading him to act out in school. At one point, he reportedly ripped his hair out until he was bald due to the stress. In October 2016, he revealed on The Breakfast Club morning radio show that he struggled with suicidal thoughts when he was younger, crediting the music of Kid Cudi with saving his life.

Davidson attended St. Joseph by the Sea High School, and then Tottenville High School, before transferring to Brooklyn's Xaverian High School, from which he graduated in 2011. After high school, he enrolled at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights. However, after just one semester, Davidson decided to leave college to pursue a full-time career in comedy.

2.3. Early Career

Davidson's journey into comedy began at a young age. He first attempted stand-up comedy at age sixteen in a Staten Island bowling alley. A group of friends, including future professional baseball player Matt Festa, knowing of his comedy aspirations, dared him to perform on stage.

His earliest onscreen appearance was in the third episode of the MTV comedy series Failosophy, which premiered on February 28, 2013. The following month, he appeared in "PDA and Moms," a third-season episode of the MTV2 reality TV comedy series Guy Code, marking the first of four episodes in which he was featured. In June of that year, his first televised stand-up performance aired as part of a second-season episode of the Comedy Central program Gotham Comedy Live, which showcases stand-up 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, making six appearances on that show. He subsequently made additional stand-up appearances on television and had a guest role in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. In 2014, Davidson secured a role in a Fox comedy pilot titled Sober Companion, though the project ultimately did not make it to series.

3.1. Saturday Night Live

Davidson joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) with the show's 40th-season premiere, which debuted on September 27, 2014. At the age of 20, he became the first SNL cast member to be born in the 1990s and one of the youngest cast members in the show's history. He was the first new addition to the cast that season. Davidson received an opportunity to audition for the show through regular cast member Bill Hader, whom he had met while filming a small part in the 2015 Judd Apatow feature film comedy Trainwreck. Hader subsequently recommended him to producer Lorne Michaels.

Davidson's debut on SNL garnered positive critical notice. His most noted skits during his early seasons included an Indiana Jones-style sketch where he and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, after being hit by poison darts, were forced to mutually suck poison out of each other's various body parts, an endeavor that eventually found them entangled in the "69" position. Another sketch involved Davidson being shot in the chest with an arrow by Norman Reedus. Over the years, Davidson played a number of characters, the most famous being Chad, an easily distracted and 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 widely praised as one of the best of the show. Among his bolder jokes was one at the expense 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." In 2016, he was placed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. 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 became close after appearing together on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live. In May 2019, 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, attributing this 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.

Following lengthy absences in season 47, it was announced shortly before its finale that it would be Davidson's last on Saturday Night Live.

3.2. Film Career

Davidson has established a significant film career, often starring in and contributing to projects that reflect his unique comedic voice and personal experiences.

In 2019, he starred in Jason Orley's Big Time Adolescence, also serving as an executive producer. He had supporting roles in Adam Shankman's What Men Want (uncredited), Jeff Tremaine's The Dirt, Thurop Van Orman's The Angry Birds Movie 2 (voicing Jerry), and John Turturro's The Big Lebowski spin-off The Jesus Rolls.

In May 2020, The King of Staten Island was released, a semi-autobiographical film in which Davidson both starred and co-wrote with Judd Apatow, who also directed. For his work in The King of Staten Island, Davidson was nominated for The Comedy Movie Star of 2020 at the 46th People's Choice Awards. In April 2021, Davidson was cast as Joey Ramone in a Netflix biopic titled I Slept With Joey Ramone, based on the late singer's brother's memoir of the same name. Davidson is also set to serve as co-writer and executive producer for this project. In August 2021, he appeared as Blackguard in The Suicide Squad, directed by James Gunn. He voiced Marmaduke in an animated film released on Netflix on May 6, 2022.

In 2022, he had a cameo in I Want You Back, starred in Bodies Bodies Bodies, appeared in Good Mourning, and starred in and executive produced Meet Cute. In 2023, Davidson acted in three high-profile action franchise films, appearing as Phlektik in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Bowie in Fast X, and voicing Mirage in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. He also appeared as Kevin Gill in Dumb Money and had a cameo as an angry customer in Good Burger 2. In 2024, he starred as Lonnie in Riff Raff. He is set to voice Petey in the 2025 animated film Dog Man. Upcoming projects include The Home, Wizards!, and The Pickup, all in post-production.

3.3. Television Career

Beyond Saturday Night Live, Davidson has appeared in and contributed to a variety of television series and specials.

His early television appearances included Failosophy (2013), Guy Code (2013-2014), Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out (2013-2014), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013), and Friends of the People (2014).

In 2016, he appeared in The Jim Gaffigan Show. In 2017, he had roles in Eighty-Sixed and voiced Duck in the television film Click, Clack, Moo: Christmas at the Farm. In 2018, he appeared in The Guest Book. From 2020 to 2022, he had a recurring role as Pete Nolan in The Rookie. Since 2020, he has held a main voice role as Phineas T. Phreakers in The Freak Brothers. In 2021, he appeared in The Now.

In 2022, Davidson appeared in The Kids in the Hall, hosted Pete Davidson Presents: The Best Friends, was featured in Murderville, and appeared as himself in The Kardashians.

In 2023, he voiced Toad Button in American Dad!. He also starred in, created, co-wrote, and executive produced the Peacock original series Bupkis. The series debuted to mixed reviews, with The Guardian describing it as "messy" and comparing it unfavorably to other shows, stating, "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." Despite Peacock renewing the series for a second season, Davidson chose not to move forward with it. In 2023, he also returned to host an episode of Saturday Night Live (Season 49). In 2024, he voiced Rod in Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In 2025, he appeared as himself in the special SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night.

3.4. Stand-up Comedy

Davidson's stand-up comedy forms a core part of his career, with his performances often drawing directly from his personal life and experiences.

He first tried stand-up comedy at age sixteen. His first televised stand-up aired as part of Gotham Comedy Live on Comedy Central in June 2013. In April 2016, Comedy Central filmed his first stand-up special, Pete Davidson: SMD, in New York City. In February 2020, Davidson released his second stand-up special, Alive from New York, on Netflix. For this special, he was nominated for The Comedy Act of 2020 at the 46th People's Choice Awards. In January 2019, he embarked on a limited series of comedy shows titled "Sundays with Pete & John" with fellow comedian John Mulaney. His most recent stand-up special, Pete Davidson: Turbo Fonzarelli, was released in 2024.

3.5. Other Ventures

Beyond his primary work in comedy, film, and television, Davidson has engaged in various other notable projects.

He has ventured into music through collaborations, including writing the sketch "A Message from the Count" for Machine Gun Kelly's 2019 album Hotel Diablo. He was also featured on Machine Gun Kelly's tracks "Kevin and Barracuda (Interlude)" from Tickets to My Downfall (2020) and "Wall of Fame (Interlude)" from Mainstream Sellout (2022). In 2023, he was featured on Chris Webby's "Who Am I" and in 2024, on Eminem's "Houdini".

In March 2022, the spaceflight company Blue Origin announced that Davidson would be an "honorary guest" alongside five paying customers aboard NS-20, a suborbital flight of its New Shepard craft planned for later that month. However, the flight was rescheduled, and Blue Origin subsequently announced that Davidson was "no longer able" to join the crew.

5.1. Health and Mental Health

Davidson has been open about his health and mental health challenges, contributing to broader discussions on these topics. He was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at age 17 or 18, for which he receives intravenous biologic therapy. He has also used medical marijuana for pain management, as well as recreationally.

On March 6, 2017, Davidson announced on his Instagram account that he had quit drugs and was sober for the first time in eight years. During an interview on comedian Marc Maron's podcast, Davidson clarified that the only drug he used was marijuana. While he has since considerably reduced his marijuana use, he explained that the personal and emotional problems he initially attributed to daily marijuana use were actually caused by his newly diagnosed borderline personality disorder (BPD), for which he has since been undergoing treatment.

On December 3, 2018, Davidson shared a candid Instagram post in which he expressed thoughts of suicide, before deleting his account entirely. The New York Police Department conducted a wellness check on Davidson in response to social media posts from followers and his former fiancée, Ariana Grande. At the time, Davidson had been at the Saturday Night Live studio preparing for the last episode of the year before its holiday hiatus. Davidson and John Mulaney, a comedian and former SNL writer, made humorous references to the Instagram post during the Weekend Update segment of the first episode following the holiday hiatus on January 19, 2019.

5.2. Relationships

Davidson's high-profile romantic relationships have frequently attracted significant media and public attention. He dated comedian Carly Aquilino from 2014 to 2015 and actress Cazzie David from 2016 to 2018.

In May 2018, he began dating singer Ariana Grande following her breakup with Mac Miller. In June 2018, Davidson confirmed his engagement to Grande, but the engagement was called off in October 2018 after Mac Miller's death. Grande's song about Davidson, titled "Pete Davidson", appears on her 2018 album Sweetener. She also referenced him in her song "Thank U, Next" with the lyric, "Even almost got married / And for Pete I'm so thankful." Their relationship is also notable for popularizing the term "Big Dick Energy".

In January 2019, Davidson was reported to be in a relationship with English actress Kate Beckinsale, who is twenty years his senior. By April of that year, they had "called time on their romance." In response to media comments about the age difference, Davidson stated that such an age gap was new to him and that the media should ask older men in longer relationships with younger women, such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Alec Baldwin, Larry King, and Donald Trump, about it.

He also dated actress Margaret Qualley, daughter of Andie MacDowell, until their relationship ended in October 2019. He was involved with model Kaia Gerber from October 2019 to January 2020. In August 2021, he split from Bridgerton actress Phoebe Dynevor, daughter of actress Sally Dynevor, after a five-month relationship, with distance cited as a factor.

Davidson and Kim Kardashian were first spotted out together in October 2021 following Kardashian's appearance on Saturday Night Live. During her time hosting an episode of SNL, the two shared an on-screen kiss in a Disney-themed sketch, where they played Jasmine and Aladdin. They began dating in November 2021. Previously, Kardashian had filed for divorce from her husband Kanye West in February 2021. Following a very public split, Kardashian was legally declared single by a judge in March 2022. West referenced the relationship in his 2022 track "Eazy," in which he threatened to "beat Pete Davidson's ass." The music video for "Eazy" depicted a claymation figure of Davidson being kidnapped, buried, and showed his severed head. West further attacked Davidson on Instagram in February of the same year, calling him a "dickhead" and "Hillary Clinton's ex boyfriend." In August 2022, Davidson and Kardashian split up after nine months of dating.

Between December 2022 and August 2023, Davidson dated actress Chase Sui Wonders. The two met on the set of Bodies Bodies Bodies and she later co-starred in Davidson's streaming series Bupkis. He dated actress Madelyn Cline from September 2023 to July 2024.

In 2025, Davidson spoke about the extensive media attention surrounding his relationships, stating: "It was pretty humiliating and upsetting, honestly. Everyone is dating everyone and it's Hollywood ... But because I'm ugly, they wrote about me. I was harassed for like five years and it made my life a living hell."

5.3. Other Personal Matters

Davidson's residency has shifted over the years. In October 2015, he lived in Brooklyn Heights, New York. By 2019, he was living in Staten Island with his mother in a home they purchased together. In April 2021, he moved into his own residence in Staten Island, a condo valued at around 1.20 M USD. In February 2022, Davidson announced plans to move from Staten Island to Brooklyn.

He is the godfather of Leo, the son of fellow comedian and friend Ricky Velez. Davidson is also close friends with Seattle Mariners pitcher Matthew Festa; the two were classmates at St. Joseph by the Sea High School.

Davidson once had many tattoos. By 2025, he had about 200 removed, intending to keep only two or three, stating he was "trying to clean slate it, trying to be an adult." However, five days after this statement, he was seen flashing many tattoos at an SNL 50th special.

In terms of political affiliations, Davidson supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. On December 5, 2017, he stated on his Instagram account that he got a tattoo of Clinton on his leg, whom he called his "hero," a "badass," and "one of the strongest people in the universe." Clinton herself thanked Davidson for the compliment, joking: "This makes it significantly less awkward that I've had a Pete Davidson tattoo for years." He also supported Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

6.1. Positive Impact

Davidson has achieved significant success in comedy and entertainment, becoming a household name through his work on Saturday Night Live and his various film and television projects. His semi-autobiographical film The King of Staten Island and series Bupkis have been recognized for their personal depth and comedic value.

Perhaps his most significant positive impact lies in his contributions to destigmatizing mental health discussions. By openly sharing his experiences with Crohn's disease, borderline personality disorder, depression, and suicidal ideation, Davidson has used his platform to foster greater understanding and reduce the stigma associated with these conditions. His candidness has resonated with audiences, encouraging more open conversations about mental health.

6.2. Criticism and Controversies

Davidson has faced public criticism and controversy throughout his career, often stemming from his comedic material and personal actions.

One notable incident occurred in March 2019, when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn demanded an apology from Davidson after an SNL sketch. In the sketch, Davidson compared the Catholic Church to R. Kelly, an entertainer accused and convicted of pedophilia. Davidson stated, "[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." The diocese criticized the "disgraceful and offensive skit," adding that it "offends millions" and mocked a difficult time in the Church's history, especially following a 27.50 M USD settlement for sex abuse allegations in September 2018.

Davidson was also criticized for mocking Republican congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw, who wears an eye patch as a result of a wound incurred while serving in Afghanistan. Davidson compared Crenshaw to "a hitman in a porno movie" and added, "I'm sorry, I know he lost his eye in war or whatever." In response to backlash, 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. However, 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.

In a more recent incident, on March 4, 2023, Davidson crashed his car into a house while driving late at night. No one was injured in the crash. He was later charged with a misdemeanor for "reckless driving" and agreed to complete 50 hours of community service and attend 12 hours of traffic school as part of a diversion program.

6.3. Influence

Pete Davidson's influence extends beyond his comedic and acting roles. His unique blend of self-deprecating humor, vulnerability, and willingness to tackle taboo subjects has carved out a distinct niche in contemporary comedy. He has inspired other comedians to explore more personal and raw material. His public battles with mental health and his candid discussions about them have significantly contributed to normalizing conversations around these issues, particularly among younger audiences. This openness has made him a relatable figure for many who face similar struggles, fostering a sense of community and reducing the stigma of seeking help. His personal narrative, often intertwined with his public persona, has made him a cultural touchstone, reflecting a shift towards greater authenticity and transparency in celebrity culture.

8.1. Film

8.2. Television

8.3. Discography