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Pete Davidson explains why he’s a ‘good person’ to address Israel, Gaza in solemn ‘SNL’ cold open

October 15, 2023 | | Print Article

Season 49 of “Saturday Night Live” premiered this weekend and instead of a goofy skit from the Not Ready For Primetime Players, host Pete Davidson delivered a cold opening that, in light of the devastating war between Israel and Hamas, is being hailed on social media as “perfection.”

“This week we saw the horrible images and stories from Israel and Gaza,” the “Bupkis” star began. “And I know what you’re thinking, ‘Who better to comment on it than Pete Davidson?'”

“Well, 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,” he revealed. “So I know something about what that’s like.”

“I saw so many terrible pictures this week,” Davidson continued. “Children suffering, Israeli children and Palestinian children. And it took me back to a really horrible, horrible place. No one in this world deserves to suffer like that, especially not kids.

“After my dad died, my mom tried pretty much everything she could do to cheer me up,” he recalled. “I remember one day when I was eight. She got me what she thought was a Disney movie. But it was actually the Eddie Murphy stand-up special ‘Delirious.’ And we played it in the car on the way home. And when she heard the things Eddie Murphy was saying, she tried to take it away. But then she noticed something. For the first time in a long time, I was laughing again.

“I don’t understand that. I really don’t and I never will,” he said. “But sometimes comedy is really the only way forward through tragedy.

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“You know, my heart is with everyone whose lives have been destroyed this week. But tonight, I’m gonna do what I’ve always done in the face of tragedy, and that’s trying to be funny,” he told viewers.

“Remember, I said try,” he added. “And, live from New York, it’s Saturday Night.”

It was the unifying speech America needed — and has thus far failed to receive from its leaders.

“Pete Davidson’ SNL opening was perfect,” wrote one user on X.

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It was a word many used to describe the comedian’s heartfelt monologue.


“This hit all the right notes,” wrote one user.

“That was truly beautiful,” said another.

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“I normally dislike this guy,” stated a third. “Not tonight. Not one bit.”

“Comedians are brilliant because they are so deeply in touch with the tragic and use it to make us all laugh and hope for a better tomorrow,” noted one user on X. “Thank you Pete. God be with the children of Israel and Palestine.”

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Melissa Fine
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