Pete Davidson

Early life

Davidson was born November 16, 1993 in Staten Island, New York, the son of Amy (née Waters) and Scott Davidson. Davidson has Jewish, German, Irish, Scottish, English and Italian ancestry. He has a younger sister named Casey. His father was a New York City firefighter who died in service during the September 11 attacks. He was last seen running up the stairs of the Marriott World Trade Center, just prior to its collapse. Davidson, who was seven years old at the time, was profoundly affected by the loss. He told The New York Times that it was "overwhelming" and that he would often act out in school as a result of the trauma, at one point ripping his hair out until he was bald. In October 2016, Davidson revealed on The Breakfast Club morning radio show that he struggled with suicidal thoughts when he was younger, and that the music of rap artist Kid Cudi saved his life.

Davidson first tried his hand at stand-up comedy at age 16 in a Staten Island bowling alley, where a group of friends, knowing of his comedy aspirations, dared him to take to the stage. He did so only after smoking marijuana. Davidson, who has suffered from Crohn's disease since the age of 17 or 18, says he "cannot function" without marijuana, adding that he would not be able to work on Saturday Night Live, and that attempts to perform without it have not been successful. He explained that he "can perform when [he's] not high, but it wouldn't be that much fun for [him]." He attended St. Joseph's School, then Tottenville High School before transferring to a school in Brooklyn. Following high school, he enrolled at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights, remaining briefly before dropping out.

Career

Davidson's earliest onscreen appearance was in the third episode of the MTV comedy series Failosophy, which premiered 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, the first of four episodes in which he was featured. 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 episode appearances on that show.

Davidson subsequently made standup appearances on Adam Devine's House Party, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Comedy Underground with Dave Attell, and guest-starred in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. In 2014, he acquired a role in a Fox comedy pilot, Sober Companion, but it ultimately did not make it to series.

Davidson joined the cast of Saturday Night Live with that 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. The first new addition to the cast that season, 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. Hader subsequently told producer Lorne Michaels about him. His debut garnered positive critical notice, 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, an endeavor that eventually found them entangled in the "69" position. Another involved Davidson being shot in the chest with an arrow by Norman Reedus.

In March 2015, Davidson served as a roaster in the Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber, for which his set was praised as one of the best ones of the show. Among his bolder jokes was one at the expense of fellow roaster Snoop Dogg and host Kevin Hart, and their 2004 film Soul Plane. Davidson, whose firefighter father died during the September 11 attacks, called that film "the worst experience of my life involving a plane."

In 2016, Davidson was on the Forbes 30 under 30 list.

Comedy style

Davidson has been lauded for basing his comedy on his own life and employing aspects of his life that have been likened to "a series of brutal truths and vulgar confessions," and which make him relatable to audiences. Touching upon topics such as marijuana, sex, and relationships, incidents he relates include those from his awkward high school experiences to living in a dormitory during his brief stint at St. Francis College. Davidson jokes about highly sensitive subjects, including the loss of his father during the September 11 attacks, because, he says, he finds that it empowers him to address the feeling of powerlessness that experiencing such tragedy at a young age inflicted upon him.

Personal life

Davidson has 8418, his father's badge number, tattooed on his left arm. He was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at age 17 or 18, for which he receives intravenous treatment and used medical marijuana as a pain reliever. He is a fan of the Harry Potter franchise, and has incorporated that material into his comedy work.

As of October 2015, Davidson resides in an apartment in Brooklyn Heights, New York.

Davidson dated Girl Code star Carly Aquilino from 2014 to 2015. As of May 2016, he is in a relationship with Cazzie David, daughter of comedian Larry David.

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, WTF with Marc Maron, Davidson clarified that the only drug he used was marijuana and, while he has since cut back his use considerably, the personal problems he initially assumed were a result of his daily marijuana habit were actually caused by borderline personality disorder, for which he has since been undergoing treatment.