Pete Davidson Opens SNL Premiere With Message About Israel–Hamas War
This weekend’s Saturday Night Live opened on a serious note, as the long-running NBC sketch comedy series is wont to do in the wake of real-life tragedy.
A December 2012 SNL, for example, opened with the New York City Children’s Chorus singing “Silent Night,” days after the Sandy Hook school shooting. Similarly, a February 2022 episode opened with the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York singing “Prayer for Ukraine,” days after Russia attacked Kyiv.
And this Saturday night, one week after the Israel-Hamas war began, SNL alum-turned-host Pete Davidson opened the episode by standing alone on a dimly lit stage to acknowledge that he probably is the last person anyone expected to offer a salient POV on the conflict — until he reminded us that “when I was 7 years old, my dad was killed in a terrorist attack, so I know something about what that’s like.”
Scott Davidson, a New York City firefighter, died on Sept. 11, 2001.
As such, the Israel-Hamas conflict “took me back to a really horrible, horrible place,” Davidson said, reflecting on how his mom “tried everything to cheer me up” — including getting him a “Disney” video that turned out to actually be Eddie Murphy’s Delirious.
And yet young Pete welcomed the comedic distraction.
“Sometime’s comedy is the only way forward through tragedy,” Davidson suggested. “My heart is with everyone whose lives have bene destroyed this week, but tonight i’m going to do what i’ve always done in the face of tragedy which is try to be funny. Remember — I said try.”
As of Thursday, Israel had suffered the loss of 1,300 citizens killed following the Hamas rocket attacks, while another 3,000 had been wounded. The Palestinian Ministry of Health has thus far reported 2,215 civilians killed since the conflict broke out one week ago, with another 8,700 injured.
What did you think of how Pete Davidson eased viewers into the SNL season opener?
