Pete Davidson Told Lorne Michaels to Fire Him After His First Season on Saturday Night Live — Here’s Why He Didn’t

Davidson landed the gig on ‘SNL’ when he was just 20, and exited the late night sketch series in 2022 after eight years on the show

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Angela Andaloro is a Society & Culture Staff Writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on BuzzFeed, Entertainment Weekly, and LittleThings.

Published on January 16, 2025 09:00AM EST

Lorne Michaels saw something in Pete Davidson before the comedian had faith in himself.

Davidson, 31, is one of many cast members who appears in SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, the new Peacock docuseries looking back at the late night show’s storied past as the show celebrates its 50th anniversary.

In the docuseries, which premiered Jan. 16, Davidson admitted that he was initially surprised to get hired for the show at age 20. After watching back his audition tape in the special’s first episode, “Five Minutes,” the comedian said, “It’s wild to see the hope in one’s eye.”

When it came to his audition, Davidson “didn’t know whether to do impressions or stand up.”

“And then I called my buddy and I was like, ‘Should I do impressions?’ He’s like, ‘Can you?’ I was like, ‘No.’ He’s like, ‘Well then you should do stand up,'” the Bupkis star continued.

When his audition day finally rolled around, Davidson didn’t walk away from it feeling sure of himself.

“Two times in six minutes someone went, ‘Ha!’ and I was like, ‘That was terrible, there’s no way I’m getting it,'” he remembered thinking.

Though he did end up landing the gig, that feeling of uncertainty didn’t leave Davidson throughout his first season on the show.

“After my first year I actually called for a meeting with Lorne and I was like, ‘Please fire me,’ and he’s like, ‘Why?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t belong here. Everybody’s so talented and they don’t want to be my friend,'” Davidson recalled.

Laughing, he explained, “Because I was a child. I was like, ‘Nobody wants to be my friend.’ And he said, ‘You don’t figure it out ’til your third or fourth year… It’s just gonna suck for three or four years.’ And he was right.”

Davidson ultimately remained on the late night sketch show for a total of eight years before he exited SNL in 2022.

“I appreciate SNL always having my back and allowing me to work on myself and grow,” Davidson said on his final episode. “Thank you to Lorne for never giving up on me or judging me even when everyone else was and for believing in me and allowing me to have a place that I could call home with memories that will last a lifetime.”

Since his exit, he has returned to the show multiple times to either host or make guest cameos in skits. The comedian also starred in Peacock’s comedy Bupkis and headlined his own Netflix standup comedy special.

SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night is now streaming on Peacock.