Weeks after a troubling Instagram post made Pete Davidson's mental health more discussed than the actual Saturday Night Live episode he was mostly absent from, the comedian is now making completely different kinds of headlines. Davidson performed a year-ending stand-up set in Boston this week, where he claimed that Louis C.K .tried to get him fired over marijuana use when the once-celebrated comedian guest-hosted SNL back in 2017. In Davidson's words:
[Louis C.K.] told all the producers in front of me that all this kid does is smoke weed and he's gonna smoke his career away. [He told Lorne Michaels] that Pete smokes so much weed that it makes people uncomfortable.
Of all the people to go after for getting stoned, Louis C.K. apparently picked the current SNL star who has perhaps been the most open and public with recreational habits of that nature. Pete Davidson has discussed his weed and alcohol use in interviews the past, both when trying to go clean and sober and when opening up about the details of his Crohn's disease and depression, with the latter linked to his borderline personality disorder.
After making those allegations on stage, Pete Davidson then called out Louis C.K. for his own highly publicized actions that definitely made people uncomfortable, namely masturbating openly in front of different women. The former FX star had admitted to committing the acts that were alleged against him by multiple women, and spent much of the past year in relative silence as many others in the entertainment world were also rocked with sexual misconduct allegations.
The episode in question was Louis C.K.'s fourth time as SNL's guest host, happening seven months ahead of the New York Times story in which the comedian's accusers came forward with their stories. It's pretty clear that Lorne Michaels and others producers weren't plagued with worry over Pete Davidson's marijuana usage getting out of hand, since the star didn't appear to be in danger of losing his job at any point around that time.
Pete Davidson did get into some awkward SNL trouble of his own in recent months after tastelessly mocking a former Navy SEAL who was running for Congress. However, that situation was quickly resolved, with the congressman-elect Pete Crenshaw appearing on the show to do some name-calling of his own.
Meanwhile, Louis C.K. returned to the anti-spotlight in the latter months of 2018 by making surprise appearances at various comedy clubs as part of his "Ready or Not, Here I Come" tour, all while largely failing to address his downfall. C.K. recently drew harsh criticisms after audio from a December set was leaked onto YouTube, and he could be heard making jokes about the Parkland High School shooting survivors, as well as complaining about modern gender identification.
Stand-up stages are currently the only places where Louis C.K. can get his opinions across, with his TV and film career having both imploded after the masturbation scandal went wide. Meanwhile, Pete Davidson is still enjoying his career as an SNL star, since his job obviously wasn't sacrificed over C.K.'s pot-laced complaints to Lorne Michaels. (The Louie creator wasn't the only comedian that Davidson went off on in the past year, either.)
On that note, you can find Pete Davidson back on NBC when Saturday Night Live returns from its winter hiatus. While waiting to find out who will be hosting, head to our midseason premiere schedule to stay current on all the new and returning shows coming soon.
