After an alarming public battle with depression, Pete Davidson's life appears to be back to normal: Performing on Saturday Night Live, covering up Ariana Grande tattoos and touring the country doing stand-up comedy. However, a recent set turned sour when one heckler joked about Mac Miller's death.
As you might recall, Pete and Ariana Grande had a whirlwind romance, getting engaged after dating for just a few weeks. However, tragedy struck in September, as Ariana's ex, rapper Mac Miller, died from an accidental overdose at 26. One month later, the internet's favorite couple broke up. Sources told TMZ that Ariana was in a dark place after Mac's death, and couldn't fully invest in her relationship with Pete.
On Monday, Pete performed stand-up comedy at the South Orange Performing Arts Center in South Orange, New Jersey. The SNL star began one joke, "My friend died in my apartment," and an audience member shouted "Mac Miller?" The outburst was probably meant as a joke, but Pete didn't find it funny. "Jesus Christ," he exclaimed. "Who's that guy? We're getting him out. Point out the guy who's a f*ck face."
In audio obtained by TMZ, you can hear the full interaction. After asking the audience to identify the heckler, Pete waited for him to be removed. "I'll wait. I will wait. I will not continue until that kid's gone," he said. "I'll leave, so if you want the show to continue, call out the person who did it... Give him his money back and get him the f*ck out. I don't deal with that shit at my shows."
Eventually, security located the agitator and escorted him out of the venue. "I hope you're proud of yourself, you just f***ing f***ed up everything," scolded Pete, explaining that he was doing the gig to build an hour of material, not for the bag. However, he was nice enough to give the heckler a refund. "Make sure he gets his money back, too, because I really don't want his money," said Pete. Then he added, "If you can, throw it at him like a whore," which got a big laugh.
The set then continued without interruption. I'm sure some people will say that Pete's zero-tolerance policy was too harsh, since he once told an offensive joke about the Ariana Grande Manchester concert bombing. However, the difference is that Pete is a comedian performing a show, and the audience member is a heckler disrupting a show.
Heckling is a sh*tty thing to do to comics because it ruins the flow of a carefully crafted performance, and selfishly spoils a show for everyone else that bought a ticket. And if you're heckling by shouting the name of one of the comedian's recently deceased acquaintances, that makes the act even more obnoxious. Don't be surprised if you get kicked out!
