Pete Davidson Called out for Joke About Ariana Grande Concert Bombing

Pete Davidson has come under fire for a resurfaced joke he made last fall about the Manchester bombing terrorist attack that took place at a concert of his now-fiancée, Ariana Grande.

During a stand-up show at a benefit to support Puerto Rico last fall at The Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, the Saturday Night Live actor discussed Grande’s fame, joking, “Britney Spears didn’t have a terrorist attack at her concert,” the Mirror reports.

The May 2017 tragedy killed 22 people and injured over 800 at Grande’s concert in Manchester, England. The mother of 15-year-old Olivia Campbell-Hardy, one of those 22 victims, said Davidson should apologize for his remark, calling it “heartbreaking and outrageous.”

“For anyone to joke about this situation is disgusting and I think he should publicly apologize for it,” Charlotte Hodgson said Sunday. She added that other families of the Manchester bombing victims “will find it equally as disgusting.”

“We don’t need jokes about it, there have been plenty around, and it’s heartbreaking to hear every day. But for someone so famous to be doing it and now to be with Ariana, it’s outrageous,” Hodgson said.

Neither Davidson nor Grande have commented about the controversy, although a source close to Davidson told PEOPLE that the joke is being taken “out of context” and that Davidson, whose father was a firefighter who died during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, is no stranger to tragedy.

“The joke was taken out of context,” the source said. “[Davidson] lost his dad in 9/11 and is close with other victims of violent tragedies. As a way of coping he turns to humor.”

The source continued, “He’s obviously sensitive to tragedy as he lost his own father and his intention is to just make people laugh.”

Meanwhile, Grande recently debuted a new tattoo dedicated to Scott Davidson, Pete Davidson‘s late father. The new ink sits at the top of her foot and reads “8418,” which was the badge number worn by Scott Davidson. Pete Davidson also has the same numbers tattooed on his left forearm.

Though Davidson, 24, and Grande, 25, announced their engagement after a very brief few weeks of whirlwind romance, the ink dedicated to Davidson’s dad is not the first tattoo celebrating each other for the pair. In June, Davidson inked the initials “AG” on his thumb, and added a black bunny mask behind his ear, identical to the mask Grande wears on her Dangerous Woman album art.

The two also share identical cloud tattoos on their left middle fingers, along with the word “Reborn” and “H2GKMO” in honor of Grande’s signature phrase, “honest to God knock me out.”

Photo Credit: Instagram / @petedavidson