Pete Davidson says he wasn’t a fan of the audience for the “SNL50: The Anniversary Special.”
During an Aug. 6 appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Davidson said the crowd for the anniversary special was “terrible” because it was full of celebrities.
“It’s a terrible audience. It’s just famous people, and famous people only like themselves,” he said. “It’s true. I’m guilty of this.”
“Late Night” host and “SNL” alum Seth Meyers, who also attended and performed at the event, said he noticed that Davidson was “the only one laughing” in the audience when a pretape played.
“We were like, ‘Oh, he’s coming in way too hot,'” Meyers joked, which made Davidson burst out laughing.
Davidson participated in sketches during the anniversary special with fellow former “SNL” cast members as well as celebrities. The “King of Staten Island” star co-led a musical tribute to New York City with David Spade and John Mulaney. In another sketch, Davidson reprised his hilarious character Chad for a pretaped sketch with “SNL” original cast member Laraine Newman.
“Chad’s fun. It’s my one character that I got to do,” he told Meyers, laughing. “In eight years of ‘SNL,’ I had one character. But it’s not a very flattering character. Everyone was so excited to see Laraine, and then I just have my shirt off.”
Though Davidson would’ve liked the audience to react better to the sketches, he appreciated his seating arrangement as he was placed next to Oscar winner Meryl Streep, who also participated in the special show.
Pete Davidson and Meryl Streep in the audience at “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” on Feb. 16, 2025.Chris Haston / NBC via Getty Images
“Meryl rules,” he said.
“In typical ‘SNL’ fashion, they don’t tell you anything. You don’t even know what’s going on. And I get to my seat and I just look, and I’m like, ‘This can’t be right.’ And it was Meryl Streep. And I just sat down, and I was like, ‘I’m so sorry that I’m sitting next to you. You’re the best.’ And she was very nice,” he said.
Some other celebrities who attended the anniversary special were Kim Kardashian, Robert De Niro, Scarlett Johansson and Seth Rogan.