Comedian Pete Davidson has a new stand-up special on Netflix, and it unsurprisingly addresses his past relationship with musician Ariana Grande. But rather than taking a light-hearted approach with the material, Davidson shows that he's still bitter about the break-up, evidenced by several jokes about the aftermath of their five-month 2018 romance. Here's how the Saturday Night Live cast member takes a passive-aggressive approach when discussing Grande in Pete Davidson: Alive From New York.
Davidson's first Netflix special opens with a lengthy commentary about fellow comedian Louis C.K., the subject of a highly-publicized 2017 sexual misconduct scandal. Davidson recalls how the Louie creator and star tried to get him fired from Saturday Night Live two years prior, the result of his admitted marijuana use that led to an awkward meeting with boss Lorne Michaels. In the 49-minute Netflix special, Davidson covers the usual millennial-themed material that he addresses on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update segments (weed, sex, celebrities, and mental health), and with a tone that shifts back and forth from self-aware embarrassment to sheer annoyance at his public persona.
Grande began a romance with Davidson after breaking up with boyfriend Mac Miller, who later passed away from an accidental overdose in September 2018. One month after the tragedy, Grande and Davidson mutually parted ways, which led to even more public discourse about the nature of their relationship. In the special, at the 31-minute mark, Davidson addresses the break-up. The comedian first references his ex-girlfriend while closing out a commentary about a separate 2018 controversy. While defending jokes about U.S. politician and war veteran Dan Crenshaw, Davidson states that he "made him famous," and that "I did what, like, Ariana Grande did for me... I sucked his dick at SNL." Davidson then waits a moment for applause before offering some further comments about Grande.
Davidson implies that he didn't initially plan for any jokes about his ex-girlfriend, but that his "buddy" convinced him to address the subject after Grande labeled the comedian as a "distraction" during a July 2019 Vogue interview. According to Davidson, he now considers Grande to be "fair game," and suggests that life might've become difficult if he had aired out "dirty laundry" about the Grammy Award-winning singer.
"Can you imagine if I did that? My career would be over tomorrow. If I spray-painted myself brown and hopped on the cover of Vogue magazine... and just starting sh*tting on my ex?"
The Netflix bit continues when Davidson notes that Grande didn't experience any career setbacks because of her comments, but instead won Billboard's "Woman of the Year' award. The comic then makes some self-deprecating jokes before addressing Grande's now-deleted Tweet (via Elle) in which she referenced Davidson's penis size, and inadvertently inspired an article about the comedian's so-called "Big Dick Energy" (via The Cut). Davidson states:
"I don't like that she talked all this sh*t on, like, behalf of my dick. I thought that was, like, super weird. She was like, 'Yeah, it didn't work out, but, like, nice dick.'"
Davidson then addresses double standards in the entertainment industry, calls the rumors "untrue," and jokes that Grande has "tiny, little hands." He closes out the sequence by saying that Grande, whom he calls a "genius," made her revealing comments "so that every girl that sees my dick for the rest of my life will be disappointed." Netflix subscribers hoping for some Grande content in Pete Davidson: Alive From New York won't be disappointed. Still, Pete Davidson clearly hasn't moved past the controversy, one that has since inspired numerous comedic moments on Saturday Night Live.