The troubled life of Pete Davidson: From mental health struggles to famous ex-girlfriends
Ever since his debut on NBC's 'Saturday Night Live' as its youngest cast member ever (and the first to be born in the 90s), Pete Davidson has managed to remain in the headlines on and off for multiple reasons, chief of them being his mental health struggles and his famous girlfriends. Davidson is especially known for his dark humor, often using his real-life struggles as material.
This Friday, Davidson's latest film, 'Big Time Adolescence' will be having a limited release across theaters. The movie will be available to stream on Hulu from next Friday.
Starring Griffin Gluck ('Tall Girl'), Machine Gun Kelly ('Bird Box'), and Sydney Sweeney ('Everything Sucks!'), 'Big Time Adolescence' follows a suburban teenager coming of age under the destructive guidance of his best friend - an aimless college dropout and underachieving slacker with a penchant for weed being played by Davidson.
For Davidson, the character won't be a stretch to play as he has admitted in the past that he could not be normal without weed. Davidson's struggles with mental health began in his childhood, having lost his father during the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks. His father, Scott Davidson, was a New York City firefighter.
Davidson had opened up about struggling to overcome the loss while in school, saying that he found it "overwhelming." He also spoke about rapper Kid Cudi's debut album 'Man on the Moon' (2009) helping him through his suicidal thoughts.
In 2016, Davidson revealed that he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease when he was "17 or 18" years old and said that "weed would be the only thing that would help me eat." He said, "I’d smoke and I could eat and do my shows. I wouldn’t be able to do SNL if I didn’t smoke weed. I wouldn’t be able to do anything really. Me performing not high has gone awful. It’s awful for me because I don’t feel well."
Davidson skyrocketed in popularity in 2018 when he began dating singer Ariana Grande and shortly got engaged. After Grande's ex-boyfriend, Mac Miller's death, the two broke up. In an interview earlier this year, he said of his and Grande's breakup in the wake of Miller's death, "I pretty much knew it was over around after that. That was really horrible and I can't imagine what that shit is like. That shit is just terrible."
Following the breakup, Davidson took to Instagram to post a disturbing message in a since-deleted post stating he doesn’t “want to be on this earth anymore." He wrote, “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.”
After fans and Grande expressed concern over Davidson's well-being, a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer made a visit to NBC headquarters in midtown Manhattan, to do a "wellness check" on the comedian at his workplace, and that they "made contact." Davidson proved to be safe and sound and working on Saturday night’s live show.
In an interview with Charlamagne Tha God earlier this year, Davidson detailed his struggles with suicidal thoughts. “I’m always depressed, all the time. I have to constantly bring myself out of it,” said Davidson. “I wake depressed, but now I know my steps. I have to go outside and be in [the] sun for a little bit or go for a walk. It’s all just programming yourself to trick your brain.”
He also revealed that while he’s contemplated suicide, he “can’t, because I’ve got a mom and a sister and a family.” In 2017, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with "borderline personality disorder."
Davidson is quite close to his mother. In 'The Weekend Update' segment during an 'SNL' episode from May 11th, 2019, Davidson revealed that he lived with his mother, Amy Davidson, in a house he said they purchased together, following his two back-to-back high-profile breakups -- first with Ariana Grande and then Kate Beckinsale several months later.
In his latest Netflix special, 'Alive from New York', Davidson revealed that Louis C.K. had tried to get him ousted from 'SNL' over Davidson getting high while working. However, Lorne Michaels -- executive producer for the show -- let him off the hook.
According to the New York Post, this is not the only time Davidson has received preferential treatment from Michaels. 'SNL' insiders revealed to the publication that he gets "unfair star treatment."
“Pete has a pretty cushy gig, to say the least,” said a source. “The cast isn’t into him,” said another. “He’s just there — he doesn’t add much.”
However, Davidson may soon be out of the erstwhile NBC sketch-comedy show. During his interview with Charlamagne, Davidson said, “I personally think I should be done with that show because they make fun of me. They think I’m f–king dumb … I have a weird feeling in that building where I don’t know whose team they’re playing for, really; if I’m the joke or I’m in on the joke.”
Davidson was notably absent in last week's 'SNL' episode featuring 'James Bond' star, Daniel Craig as the host -- this has, in turn, sparked rumors that Davidson may indeed me inching closer to an exit from the show.
However, this does not signal a slowdown to Davidson's career. In addition to 'Big Time Adolescence', Davidson has a slew of films scheduled to release in the next couple of years, including 'The King of Staten Island', 'The Suicide Squad', and 'Marmaduke'.