Pete Davidson has opened up about how losing his father on 9/11 shaped his childhood after learning about the death at just seven years old.
Nearly 24 years have passed since the September 11 attacks, when the world watched events unfold in real time, powerless to stop them.
That day, terrorists hijacked multiple planes. Targets included the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan and the Pentagon, while another aircraft bound for Washington D.C. went down after passengers fought back.
Two of the planes reached New York City and struck the World trade Center’s North and South Twin Towers.
About 3,000 people were killed, including Davidson’s father, Scott (Scottie).
Although the Saturday Night Live star has previously referenced his dad’s death in his stand-up, he spoke more directly about the experience with fellow comedian Theo Von—describing what it was like growing up with that loss.
Davidson told Von that his father was among the first firefighters to respond, and died while helping people at the scene.
Because he was so young, Davidson said his recollections are “few and ‘far between’,” but he still remembers his dad’s energy—calling him “hilarious” and saying: “I just remember laughing a lot, him being pretty jacked” and “always had a big smile on his face.”
He also previously spoke about that day on the Real Ones with Jon Bernthal podcast, explaining that his father had said he was “going to pick [him] up” on 9/11—but never arrived.
“I got picked up by my mom. She didn’t tell me what was going on for like three days. She kept telling me dad’s at work, I had no idea. My mom’s like, ‘You’re just grounded, you’re not allowed to watch TV’,” he said.
“I was like, ‘What? I didn’t do anything.’ And then one night I turn on the TV and I saw my dad on TV.”
In his conversation with Von, Davidson said he was “really young so I didn’t even really know what the f*** happened and it hit me later.”
He explained that, as he got older—especially when he reached college and processed it more fully—he began to feel increasingly “angry.”
Davidson also shared that his father’s death contributed to a suicide attempt when he was eight, describing how he tried to drown himself in his family’s pool because he wanted to be with Scottie again.
He said those feelings came and went until his career on SNL began, and added that he “inadvertently” gravitated toward older male comedians, looking to fill the gap left by losing his dad.
Davidson said his “innocence” disappeared early, and he often felt far older than other kids because of what happened.
Instead of wanting to do what children his age were doing, he joked to Von that he wanted to smoke “and cry”.
Still, he credited the “weird” circle of friends he found with helping him through the periods when he wanted to follow his father.
Today, Davidson is a father himself. He announced the birth of his daughter—named Scottie—in December last year.