Pete Davidson’s Netflix special, Alive from New York (out today), begins with a story that he’s told before: the time Louis C.K. tried to get him fired from SNL.
It’s around the season 40 finale in 2015, with the Louie creator as the host and Rihanna as the musical guest, and Davidson was “celebrating” for not getting fired after his first season on the show. “He was hosting and I was just thrilled, so I, uh, smoked a joint in my dressing room,” Davidson says in the special, but because he wanted to leave the building without being noticed, he took the long way to the elevator. It didn’t work.
C.K, while “holding court” with the cast and writers, stopped his conversation, pointed at Davidson, and said, “Look how f*cking high Pete is, that fu*king idiot. Just getting f*cking high at work, you stupid f*ck. You’re gonna smoke your career away, idiot.” The next day, Davidson received a phone call from Lorne Michaels’ office — it turns out that C.K. ratted him out for harmlessly smoking weed. Michaels didn’t care (as far as drugs go, SNL has seen much worse than pot), but this encounter left an impression on Davidson.
During a recent interview with Charlamagne Tha God, the same one where he said he’s considering leaving SNL because “they think I’m fucking dumb,” Davidson rejoiced in C.K.’s career downfall. “It felt great,” he said. “I loved it, that guy hasn’t been nice to many people, he’s not a nice guy.” Davidson called C.K. ratting him out “so weird. I never really got over that. That dude’s just a piece of shit. He’s not nice to young comics.”
C.K. not being a “nice guy” is an understatement the eyes of some: multiple women have accused the comedian of sexual misconduct, or as Davidson puts it in his special:
You can watch Alive from New York on Netflix. And the Charlamagne interview below:
