Pete Davidson has never shied away from the messy and painful chapters of his life.
After nearly a decade of public struggles with addiction and multiple rehab stints, the former Saturday Night Live star says he’s finally in the best place he’s ever been — and it all started with one brutally honest call from his mom.
Keep scrolling for Davidson’s most honest quotes about getting sober:
Pete Davidson Reveals Mom Amy Davidson’s Emotional Wake-Up Call
During a comedy show in April 2026 at Las Vegas’ The Fontainebleau, Pete Davidson opened up about the single moment that turned his sobriety around for good. It came during a video call with his mother, Amy Davidson, in the middle of a rehab stint.
“She went, ‘Enough.’ She f***ed me up. She was, like, ‘Peter, ‘It’s very hard to be your mom because I wake up every morning with the fear that I’ll turn on the news and see that my son has died,’” Pete recalled. “She told me all this on Zoom — from the house that I bought her on drugs. I was like, ‘Someone’s getting used to things.’ That got me sober.”
Pete Davidson’s Public Battle With Addiction and Mental Health
Pete Davidson’s struggles with substance abuse have played out publicly for years. In March 2017, he took to social media to reveal he was sober for the first time in almost a decade. Davidson had spoken openly about relying on marijuana to manage his Crohn’s disease, which he was diagnosed with as a teen.
Davidson told High Times in September 2016 that “weed would be the only thing that would help me eat,” adding, “I wouldn’t be able to do SNL if I didn’t smoke weed.”
Pete Davidson Finds Humor in Sobriety and $40,000 Rehab on ‘SNL’
Days after his 2017 announcement, he returned to SNL’s “Weekend Update” segment and addressed his recovery head-on. He later revealed he had spent $40,000 on rehab, but his sobriety didn’t stick that first time.
“For years, people have been asking me to quit drugs and get sober. And now that I have, everyone thinks I’m unfunny and boring,” he joked on “Weekend Update.”
As for the $40,000 rehab, Davidson advised viewers to “never pick the rehab that you want to go to when you’re high,” explaining he’d picked a facility that featured horse therapy only to discover he was allergic to horses.
In 2023, Davidson took the stage alongside John Mulaney and Jon Stewart and joked about having that “post-rehab glow.” He revealed he had been on ketamine for four years.
Pete Davidson Embraces Fatherhood With Girlfriend Elsie Hewitt
By September 2025, Pete Davidson was in a completely different place. Appearing on Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast, he spoke about preparing for fatherhood with girlfriend Elsie Hewitt, who had announced her pregnancy via Instagram months prior. Davidson was candid about how sobriety had reshaped his perspective on parenthood and relationships.
“Thank God that I’m sober,” Davidson said, adding that he “wishes” he had “more time of sobriety because it’s only been, like, a year and change.”
He reflected on how his past self wasn’t ready. “In other relationships or when I was a drug addict and, you know, very mentally deranged … like, that was my goal. Like, I need to have a kid. I need to get married, like, because that’s how I grew up,” he said. “But I was so not ready.”
Davidson said he eventually stopped dating and told himself, “I need to f***ing get better.” He described letting go of the pressure and letting life happen naturally. “I wasn’t looking for a relationship or looking to … obviously I wanted to, but I wasn’t looking to have a baby. And it all just kind of happened at once,” he said. “And it’s been, like, awesome.”
Davidson and Hewitt welcomed daughter Scottie Rose in December 2025.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists.
