Veteran cast member Pete Davidson delivered a blunt opening monologue addressing the Israel-Hamas war for Saturday Night Live’s (SNL) season 49 debut.
“This week we saw the horrible images and stories from Israel and Gaza, and I know what you’re thinking: who better to comment on it than Pete Davidson,” the comedian said in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Pete Davidson opens SNL with cold open about Israel and Palestine.
pic.twitter.com/G94qYkgvh7— Pop Base (@PopBase) October 15, 2023
Davidson described seeing “terrible” photographs of “Israeli children and Palestinian children” from the war zone in Gaza. Israel formally declared war after Hamas, an Islamic terror group, launched rocket attacks against the Jewish nation last week. Since then, hundreds of civilians have been murdered, thousands have been injured and an unknown number have been kidnapped, according to reports.
Davidson empathized with the victims of the war, relating the situation to when his father was killed during the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the U.S.
“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,” Davidson said. “So I know something about what it’s like.” (RELATED: Pete Davidson Says His Dating Game Hurt His Career)
The comedian said his mother tried to “cheer [him] up” by purchasing a Disney film for the then-eight-year-old Davidson. However, she accidentally bought Davidson “Delirious,” an Eddie Murphy standout special. His mother tried to confiscate the mistakenly purchase disc, but stopped when she realized Davidson was “laughing again.”
“I don’t understand it, I really don’t and I never will, but sometimes comedy is really the only way forward through tragedy,” Davison said.
“My heart is with everyone whose lives have been destroyed this week,” Davidson told the SNL audience. “But tonight, I’m going to do what I’ve always done in the face of tragedy, and that’s try to be funny.”
