Comedy In The Face Of Tragedy: How Pete Davidson, Saturday Night Live Addressed Israel, Hamas

Comedian Pete Davidson isn’t the person many would expect to be able to deliver a strong show of support for the people impacted by the Middle East conflict.

While hosting “Saturday Night Live,” Davidson did just that.

What Happened: The Hamas militant group's attack on Israel has elicited responses from celebrities around the world.

Davidson, a former cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” used his personal experience to deliver a monologue during the cold open of the show this past weekend.

“This week we saw the horrible images and stories from Israel and Gaza and I know what you’re thinking, who better to comment on it than Pete Davidson,” the comedian said.

Davidson added that he knows something about what it’s like to be a kid asking questions about terrorism and world conflicts.

“In a lot of ways, I am a good person to talk about it, because when I was seven years old, my dad was killed in a terrorist attack.”

Davidson’s father Scott Davidson was a firefighter who was killed during the September 11 attacks in New York City.

Watching the news coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict had a direct impact on him. “It took me back to a really horrible, horrible place,” he said. Davidson added that kids don’t deserve to suffer.

The actor recalled his mom buying him what she thought was a Disney tape after his dad passed away, but was actually an Eddie Murphy stand-up special. After hearing the words used by Murphy, his mom wanted to take the tape away, until she realized her son was laughing for the first time in a while.

“I don’t understand it. I really don’t, and I never will, but sometimes comedy is really the only way forward through tragedy.”

Davidson, who returned to the show of which he was a cast member from 2014 to 2022 across more than 150 episodes, told the audience that he was going to try to be funny in the face of tragedy.

Related Link: Americans More Supportive Of Israel, Want Companies to Support With Money Over Statements 

Why It’s Important: While many shows and news programs have been tasked with the decision of how to comment on the Middle East conflict, “Saturday Night Live” took a different route.

The show, which aired on Comcast Corporation CMCSA owned NBC, saw viewers recall other cold opens that came after world events. The late night show featured a Ukrainian choir after war broke out in the country. SNL also had a children’s choir sing “Silent Night” following the Sandy Hook school shooting.

Country musician Jason Aldean sang “I Won’t Back Down” after the shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas.

Politics are often the subject of the cold open, and the show took a different approach after Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election, with Kate McKinnon portraying Hillary Clinton singing a serious cover of “Hallelujah.”

Davidson was back to host the show for the first time since leaving the cast. He was originally set to host in May before the Hollywood strike cut the season short. Davidson’s original appearance in May was supposed to coincide with the release of his show “Bupkis,” which streams on Comcast-owned Peacock.

While the cold open was serious, Davidson also starred in many of the comedy skits, including a parody of the hit song “I’m Just Ken” from the “Barbie Movie.” The parody called “I’m Just Pete” paid tribute and poked fun at the hit movie from Warner Bros. Discovery WBD and Mattel Inc MAT.

Ice Spice was the musical guest for the episode.

NFL star Travis Kelce made a surprise cameo in the episode during a skit poking fun at the NFL’s obsession with the potential romance between the Kansas City Chiefs’ star and musician Taylor Swift.

Swift was also present during the live show, introducing Ice Spice for her second song performance. The two musicians have a collaboration together.

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