Pete Davidson admits in his new Netflix special he was high on ketamine when he attended Aretha Franklin’s funeral in 2018 alongside his then-fiancée, Ariana Grande.
“I’m embarrassed I was out and about like that. That’s not cool,” the stand-up comic says in “Turbo Fonzarelli” of being under the influence of the drug, which is used to treat depression.
Davidson then joked that Franklin will “never know” he was high, but added, “Still, it’s not the point.”
The “Saturday Night Live” alum claimed that the substance made him put his foot in his mouth in front of the “Respect” singer’s relatives.
“I was so high, I thought it’d be a good idea to go up to her family and go, ‘Hey! I’m just here to pay my R-E-S-P-E-C-Ts,’” he quipped, causing the audience to erupt into laughter.
Davidson joked that if Franklin were present, she likely would’ve asked, “’Hey! Who are you and what the f–k are you doing at my funeral?’”
“It’s embarrassing,” the “King of Staten Island” star, 30, added.
Davidson attended the funeral as Grande’s guest since the pop star got engaged to him just weeks before she was asked to perform in honor of the Queen of Soul, who died at age 76 in August 2018.
Grande, now also 30, hit the stage at the service wearing a controversial mini-dress to sing “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.”
Davidson’s apparent flub with Franklin’s family did not make headlines at the time, but his history with drug use is well known.
The “Bupkis” star has been to rehab several times, including in 2017 and 2019, and most recently Pvnew exclusively reported in June 2023 that he had gone back after struggling with borderline personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Pete regularly goes to rehab for ‘tune-ups’ and to take a mental break, so that’s what’s happening,” one friend told us at the time.
Another insider told Pvnew two months later that Davidson confirmed he had dabbled in using ketamine in order to treat his depression, but his publicist denied he was still on it.
The drug, which is also used for anesthetic purposes, recently became a talking point when Matthew Perry’s autopsy report revealed the “Friends” alum died from the “acute effects” of it.
However, Dr. Bankole Johnson, a leading neuroscientist and physician, previously told Pvnew that ketamine is “generally safe” when administered by “trained health professionals” to treat depression or PTSD.
The medical expert told us last month, “The best advice for those needing ketamine treatment is to find an excellent doctor and specialized facility like ours, wherever it might be.”
