Pete Davidson to Reportedly Exit Saturday Night Live

Pete Davidson may be nearing the end of his run on Saturday Night Live. Variety reports Davidson is "expected to leave Saturday Night Live after the broadcast of this weekend's season finale," a source close to the situation said. There has been much speculation on a number of long-running SNL cast members recently, including Davidson, Kenan Thompson, Cecily Strong, Aidy Bryant, and Kate McKinnon. Saturday Night Live helped propel Pete Davidson into superstardom after he joined the NBC series in 2014 at the young age of 20. NBC declined to comment on Davidson's status on SNL.

Saturday Night Live has seen a surge in ad prices over the years, increasing its importance to the bigwigs over at NBC. Even though it has a late-night timeslot on Saturdays, streaming has allowed SNL to be live in the U.S. no matter your time zone. This means even as east coast watchers are tuning in around midnight, the west coast is catching Saturday Night Live during primetime. Its 2020-2021 season ranked as the most-watched entertainment program on TV among viewers aged 18-49, a highly-coveted demographic for advertisers. 

Pete Davidson worked his way up the Saturday Night Live ladder from only appearing on "Weekend Update" to doing impressions of celebrities like actor Rami Malek and New York governor Andrew Cuomo. One of Davidson's most notable characters is the apathetic Chad, who has the innate ability to remain oblivious no matter what's happening around him, whether it be life-threatening or the mundane.

The love life of the SNL actor has been a focus of the tabloids during his time on the series. Davidson was once engaged to musician Ariana Grande before they eventually broke up, and has been in the news for his relationship with Kim Kardashian after she hosted the show. 

Davidson's life story was the inspiration for director Judd Apatow's 2020 comedy The King of Staten Island. ComicBook.com's Spencer Perry reviewed The King of Staten Island, giving it a 4 out of 5 rating. "By putting everything on the table with regard to the reality of life for modern young people, Davidson has managed to help create a movie that feels like Richard Linklater's Slacker for a new generation," Perry said. "The comedian co-wrote the script with his real-life friend Dave Sirus and director Judd Apatow, who is no stranger to man-child modernity in his movie career. What they were able to create together is a modern portrait of life for so many as real-life collides with ambition and a disinterest in responsibility."

Bupkis is an upcoming Peacock original series from Pete Davidson, who will star, co-write and executive produce. Edie Falco was recently announced to be playing Davidson's mother on Bupkis.