Pete Davidson opened up to Variety about how frightening his drug use became before he got sober. He said he used drugs to numb painful experiences after leaving Saturday Night Live. Davidson reached a low point in 2023 before deciding to change.
Pete Davidson opens up about how frightening his drug use became before getting sober
Davidson said he reached rock bottom during the summer of 2023. He had left Saturday Night Live and lacked projects providing structure. He also struggled after revisiting painful experiences through Bupkis.
Davidson said he turned to drugs while dealing with emotional pain. “It was K,” he said, before describing his use of other substances. He also used acid, shrooms, whippets, weed, and pills.
His drug use frightened him because he stopped experiencing a high. “It got scary because I didn’t feel high,” Davidson said. He realized something was seriously wrong with his drug use.
Davidson said his substance use had become a major problem. “I felt high when I wasn’t doing it,” he explained. That realization convinced him that he needed help.
An emotional FaceTime conversation with his mother became an important turning point. Davidson recalled that she feared waking up to news that something happened to him. “I reached a point where I couldn’t do that to her anymore,” he said.
Davidson then checked into rehab and walked away from Bupkis despite its renewal. He wanted to stop turning personal trauma into entertainment. He also wanted to take his career in another direction.
Davidson said previous rehab stays often happened to satisfy other people. This time, he genuinely wanted to get clean. “You really have to want it, and when you’re done, you’re done,” he explained.
Davidson now describes himself as sober, apart from drinking around “four beers a year.” “I don’t f*ck with drugs anymore,” he said. He added that he stopped hard drugs two or three years ago and weed about a year or more ago.
Fatherhood has strengthened Davidson’s commitment to sobriety. He said looking at his phone background redirects thoughts about drugs. “Oh yeah, no,” he recalls telling himself when those thoughts arise.
