Jack Harlow wrote a heartfelt essay dedicated to his friend Pete Davidson, who was named on the Time 100 Most Influential People of 2022 list.
Harlow recalled his first time seeing Davidson during the Comedy Central roast of Justin Bieber when he was a junior in high school. “He got to the mic, made a joke about his own dad dying during 9/11, and I immediately knew he was a different breed,” he wrote. Harlow said he was eventually introduced to Davidson years later through a friend over FaceTime, and the two finally met in person when the comedian pushed for him to be on Saturday Night Live.
“I grew up watching the show [SNL] with them [his family] and got to bring them on set. My mom was in tears,” Harlow remembered. “The night before the show, I went over to Pete’s apartment and he made my friend and me laugh until our stomachs hurt. I felt like I was experiencing elite comedy up close and personal.”
“We don’t have another one of him,” Harlow said of Davidson. “He’s daring, thoughtful, and simply hilarious. And he’s only 28. An icon with so much more left to accomplish.”
Davidson reiterated that he was exiting SNL after eight years during what would be his final “Weekend Update” appearance this past weekend. The day before the taping of the Season 47 finale, the comedian wrote a lengthy message shared through his longtime friend and collaborator Dave Sirus’ Instagram account where he confirmed reports that he was leaving.
Davidson had been away from SNL for quite some time filming the horror movie The Home, directed by James DeMonaco, the creator of the Purge franchise. Last year, he was tapped to star in I Slept With Joey Ramone for Netflix where he will portray the late Ramones frontman. Pete will also play a “raw, unflinching, fictionalized version” of himself in a comedy series, produced by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels.
