Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson was only 8 years old when he ended up in the Oval Office, where then-President George W. Bush gave him some odd life advice.
Davidson, his 4-year-old sister Casey, and their grandfather Stephen Davidson—who filmed the encounter—ended up in the Oval Office after the future comedian’s sister fainted while attending an event at the White House for the children and families of first responders who died in the 9/11 attacks.
Davidson’s 33-year-old dad, Scott Matthew Davidson, was a New York City firefighter who was called to the scene after the second hijacked airplane struck the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, where he was killed.
First lady Laura Bush picked up Casey when she collapsed and, together with her husband, brought the family back to the Oval Office, Davidson recounted to his fellow Saturday Night Live alum John Mulaney on the Netflix Is a Joke podcast, which was posted to Instagram.
As Bush shook everyone’s hand, Davidson’s grandfather, still filming, suddenly piped up: “Mr. President, do you have any advice for my grandson?”
That’s when the president peered down at Davidson and urged, in his inimitable way: “Heh-heh. Stay in college.”
“Hell yeah,” a still-incredulous Davidson told Mulaney of the president’s unexpected counsel. “Yeah. As if I was in—yes… ‘Stay in college.’ Yeah. Yes.”
Davidson named his first child, a daughter born last year with former girlfriend Elsie Hewitt, after his dad: Scottie Rose Hewitt Davidson.
The King of Staten Island star said it wasn’t until years later that he fully understood the impact of his father’s death.
“I was really young, so I didn’t even really know what the f--- happened,” he said of the immediate time surrounding 9/11. “And it hit me later—like when I was in college. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m pretty angry about this,’” he told podcaster Theo Von last year.
Davidson recalled that his father “always had a big smile on his face,” and “laughed a lot.”
Throughout his career, Davidson has spoken openly about his struggles with mental health issues and their links to the traumatic death of his father. The tragedy left him grappling with abandonment and trust issues as an adult.
“You know, Dad says he’s coming to pick you up and he doesn’t,” Davidson said in an interview on Jon Bernthal’s Real Ones podcast in 2023. “For life, I’m like, I don’t believe anyone. And I’m trying to learn how to believe people. And Hollywood isn’t exactly the greatest place to learn that skill.”
