Why Pete Davidson Was Cut From ‘SNL’ Skits Following Concerning Message

Pete Davidson was meant to appear in far more skits on this week’s Saturday Night Live before concerns for his mental health took him out.

Davidson frightened fans and friends on Saturday when he posted an alarming, potentially suicidal message on Instagram. The comedian received a wellness check from the New York City Police Department and then was cleared to stay at work. However, a source behind the scenes told TMZ he did not get much done for the rest of the day.

Davidson reportedly missed dress rehearsal entirely, forcing his co-stars to cut him from some of his sketches. It is unclear whether Davidson did not show up because he was not able to, or because he simply did not want to after his dramatic day. Either way, this took him out of the running for huge swaths of the show where he was supposed to appear.

Instead, sources said that Davidson spent most of the night in his dressing room. The comedian reportedly wore pajamas and took it easy. At one point, he approached a cast member during a commercial break.

“Can I just give you a hug?” he asked with a smile, to which his co-worker replied with a hug.

Davidson’s only contribution to the live show was to introduce Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson’s second musical performance. Other than that, he only appeared in a pre-recorded skit about the Oscar hosting controversy. He played Rami Malek for just a couple of seconds of screen time.

After the show, Davidson reportedly left in an SUV with rapper Machine Gun Kelly. The two just co-starred in a movie called Big Time Adolescence, and after Davidson’s message went up, Kelly posted a tweet saying that he was flying to New York to visit his friend.

“I’m in the plane now on the way to see Pete,” he wrote. “Gonna make sure he’s good, I promise. Can’t have my boy in the darkness like that.”

Another star who visited the studio was Davidson’s former fiance Ariana Grande. Grande’s tweets seemed to set off the domino effect that led to Davidson’s outburst on Saturday. The singer got into a small spat with Kanye West on Twitter, where she addressed his mental health. The rapper had just claimed that he was off of his medication again.

Davidson took to Instagram to support West, in opposition to his previous monologue about the rapper’s rhetoric. He then posted the message that had all of social media terrified for the afternoon.

“I really don’t want to be on this Earth anymore,” Davidson wrote. “I’m doing my best to stay here for you, but I actually don’t know how much longer I can last. All I’ve ever tried to do was help people. Just remember I told you so.”

“I’m downstairs and I’m not going anywhere if you need anyone or anything,” Grande tweeted a short time later. “I know [you] have everyone [you] need and that’s not me, but I’m here too.”

Sources said that Grande was nowhere to be seen once the live show began.