Comedian Pete Davidson appeared on the Saturday Night Live midseason finale, just hours after he posted a disturbing message on his Instagram page that prompted the New York Police Department to do a wellness check on him.
Davidson did not appear in any of the live sketches, but he was in the pre-taped Oscars auditions sketch and introduced Miley Cyrus, Mark Ronson and Sean Lennon’s performance of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” When the show ended, Davidson was not among his costars waving goodbye to the audience.
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Earlier Saturday morning, Davidson posted a message on Instagram that read, “I really don’t want to be on this earth anymore. 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.”
The now-deleted post ended with a heart emoji.
The message came as a shock to his fans and other celebrities, many of whom sent supportive messages on Twitter, leading to his name trending on the social network. Former Two And A Half Men star Jon Cryer said he tried to call Davidson, but was unable to reach him. Cryer later tweeted that he heard Davidson is “at SNL and accounted for.”
Davidson’s ex-fiance Ariana Grande also appeared to reach out to him, tweeting, “I’m downstairs and I’m not going anywhere if you need anyone or anything. I know [you] have everyone [you] need and that’s not me, but I’m here too.”
The New York City Police Department confirmed to The New York Times that a police officer went to the Saturday Night Live studios at Rockefeller Center to check on Davidson and an NBC representative contacted them to say Davidson was at work and “was fine.”
Davidson, who broke up with Grande in October after a whirlwind summer romance, has been open about his struggles with borderline personality disorder in the past. The death of his father, a firefighter who died while responding to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, had a profound impact on him. The comedian was 7 years old at the time of his father’s death.
During an August interview with Variety, Davidson said he has been “in and out of mental health facilities” since he was 9 and he once tried to drown himself in a pool.
“I learned what death was. And you’re not really supposed to learn about that until high school, when one of your friends falls asleep in the garage, or whatever,” Davidson told Variety or his feelings after his father’s death. “To learn how anything can just be taken away from you early gave me this sense of ‘F— it. Whatever, dude.’ I’m able to do stand-up and f— around because hopefully the worst thing that has ever happened to me happened.”
Davidson, who also lives with Crohn’s Disease, said he was not happy with how trolls on the internet were treating him after he got engaged to Grande.
“The internet is evil, and I don’t like how it affects me,” he told Variety in August. “I don’t like how the internet is a place where anybody can s— on you and make anything up. I’ve worked really hard to get my brain to this place. I can’t go online like everybody else because it’s just a f—fest. And now I get to enjoy my life.”
SNL airs at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC Saturdays and will return with new episodes next year.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Photo Credit: NBC
