5 revelations from Pete Davidson's Netflix special Alive From New York: Ariana Grande, Louis C.K., and more
Pete Davidson‘s new comedy special Alive From New York hit Netflix today, and it’s full of tasty morsels, including a juicy conspiracy theory about his ex.
Below are five revelations from the special, including why he stopped respecting Louis C.K. even before the comedian was accused of sexual misconduct and his theory about Ariana Grande‘s mischievous plot to ruin her ex’s future love life.
Louis C.K. tried to get him fired from SNL for smoking pot
Davidson opens the special by getting into his beef with C.K., who hosted Saturday Night Live during Davidson’s first season and caught the young comic faded in the hallway — and ratted him out to the boss.
“All a sudden Louis goes ‘Look how f—ing high Pete is, that f—in idiot! Just getting high at work you stupid f—. You’re gonna smoke your career away, idiot,” Davidson recalls the comic saying.
The next morning, SNL creator Lorne Michaels called Davidson into his office, saying that C.K. had come to him with concerns that the cast member was too busy getting high on the job. Davidson says he was worried he was about to be fired, but it became clear Michaels didn’t really care that much “’cause people used to do coke here.”
Easter Egg: This is the first time in the special Davidson alludes to the earlier days of SNL, but if you listen closely to the intro music, you’ll recognize it’s the opening of ’80s bop “Party All the Time” by SNL great, Eddie Murphy.
Pete has a kid?
OK, not really, but he does talk about how he takes care of a buddy of his financially, who does have a kid, so basically Davidson considers himself a dad. “All my friends are having them. Their complaints don’t matter to me that much,” he says. “It cries? ‘Oh, man, go in the other room?'” Not that we’re worried about the kid’s safety or anything, but Davidson mentions how he occasionally babysits for his friends. In one case, he says he took care of the baby by watching Forensic Files together. So that’s a thing.
His life was threatened after poking fun at Dan Crenshaw on SNL
In November 2018, Pete got put on his heels when he said on SNL that Texas Republican Dan Crenshaw, who happens to wear an eyepatch, looked like “a hitman in a porno.” Crenshaw was running for congress at the time of the joke and won the race, which prompted some opponents to blame Davidson for helping him win, which Davidson says he rejects in the special. “The only thing I did do — which I am guilty of and I apologize for — I did make that guy famous and a household name for no reason. I did what Ariana Grande did for me.”
Davidson also says he was forced to apologize to Crenshaw because people were “threatening to shoot me in the face.” He says his mom was actually the one to answer the threatening phone call and encouraged him to apologize for his safety.
His conspiracy about Ariana Grande making his “BDE” popular
Toward the end of the special, Davidson goes off on his famous ex, saying he thought it was fair game after a friend told him Grande had said “she had no idea who you were and she just dated you as a distraction.” Davidson shares a theory about why Grande liked to mention that he was well endowed, even after the breakup.
To refresh your memory, in 2018 Grande cheekily mentioned on social media that her then-beau was well hung, prompting the term “big d— energy” or BDE to hit the mainstream. And later referenced it again in her breakup anthem “Thank U, Next.” Looking back, Davidson says he thinks it may have been less of a sincere compliment, and more of a cunning curse since it was all an exaggeration. “She’s a very smart person. She did that so that every girl that sees my d— for the rest of my life is disappointed,” he says. “It’s a lifetime L.”
Even his grandpa thought “Thank U, Next” was a total bop
Speaking of Grande’s song, Davidson mentions how annoyed he was that everyone around him was so into the hit. He says his friends were all hyping him up after the breakup and “then that song came out and my friends are like, ‘Bro, I love you [but that] s— is catchy. You’re gonna have a rough eight months.'” And even his family couldn’t resist the infectious pop song. My grandpa goes, “It’s a slap. Peter, it’s a slap, I’m really sorry. It’s a good song.”
Pete Davidson’s Alive From New York is streaming now on Netflix.
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