Pete Davidson Reveals He Was High on Ketamine at Aretha Franklin’s Funeral With Ariana Grande
Pete Davidson has revealed he was "so high" on the drug Ketamine when he attended Aretha Franklin's funeral with then-fiancée Ariana Grande in 2018. The comedian joked about the experience in his new Netflix comedy special, Turbo Fonzarelli.
“I was on a drug for the past two and half, three years called Ketamine. What a time,” Pete, 30, began as he recounted the story, adding, “It’s embarrassing when you’re not on ?Ketamine anymore, though… I’m embarrassed. I was out and about like that."
"I was at funerals like that. That’s f--ked up, right? I was at Aretha Franklin’s funeral like that. Yeah, I have to live with that," he continued.
"She’ll never know, but still, that’s not the point. You know what I mean?” Pete recalled. “If she was there, she would probably be like, ‘Hey, who are you? And what the f--k are you doing at my funeral?’ It’s embarrassing," he noted of the Queen of Soul. Aretha died on August 16, 2018, at the age of 76 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Pete was Ariana's date, as she performed the late artist's legendary hit "A Natural Woman" at the service in Detroit, Michigan.
The Bupkis star said he made a terrible joke to Aretha's loved ones. "I’m so high, I thought it would 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-T…S," referring to the icon's hit 1967 song.
Pete and Ariana got engaged in June 2018 after a month of dating. They split the following October.
The former Saturday Night Live star has been open about his drug use in the past, and joked about his use of Ketamine, calling it "magical," during his first stand-up performance in September 2023 following a stint in treatment beginning in June of that year.
“I am fresh out of rehab, everyone, I got that post-rehab glow. Seventh time’s the charm!” Pete told the audience at Atlantic City's Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s Ettes Arena.
Pete said that with his 30th birthday ?rolling around in November 2023, he needed to clean up his act. "You can’t do drugs in your 30s because it’s not cute anymore” adding, “You're just a drug addict."
He used a nearly identical line in his Turbo Fonzarelli special, where he added, “Doing drugs in your 20s is fine. It’s like an excuse. You’re like: ‘I’m finding myself.’ It’s cute, you know?”
In March 2017, Pete claimed he was finally sober after years of substance abuse. "I know I've kinda been missing, on social media and on the show. I quit drugs and am happy and sober for the first time in 8 years," he told fans on Instagram. However, it didn't last long.
“I was sober for 3 months at one point and was like this f—king sucks,” Pete told Howard Stern in September 2018, saying that marijuana helped him cope with the effects of Crohn’s disease. "I also just love smoking weed. I’ve been smoking weed every day for eight years," he added.
In the years since, Pete has checked in and out of rehab, not only for drug issues but for treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and his diagnosed borderline personality disorder.
