Last Monday, Pete Davidson performed a stand-up comedy show in New Jersey, and began one joke, "My friend died in my apartment..." An audience member shouted "Mac Miller!" That didn't go over well. Rapper Mac Miller died of an accidental overdose last September, filling his fans, friends, family and ex-girlfriend Ariana Grande with grief. That turmoil is said to be the reason she broke up with fiancé Pete Davidson, following a whirlwind summer romance.
After the heckler shouted Mac's name, Pete exclaimed, "Jesus Christ. Who's that guy? We're getting him out. Point out the guy who's a f*ck face." The 25-year-old paused the show, waiting for security to remove the audience member from the venue. "I'll wait. I will wait. I will not continue until that kid's gone," he said. "Give him his money back and get him the f*ck out. I don't deal with that sh*t at my shows." The heckler was escorted from the building and the show continued without further interruption.
In the wake of that story, two students at the University of California Merced have come forward with their own tale of getting kicked out of a Pete Davidson stand-up comedy show. On February 3, Pete performed at the Merced Theater, and Ivan Martinez was sitting in the front row with and his boyfriend Juan Aguirre. Ivan won the seats in a contest, and was wearing an Ariana Grande shirt, which appeared to attract the comic's attention during his set.
“He made a child molestation joke, which I did not find funny," Ivan recounted to the Merced Sun-Star. "He called me out for, I guess, not laughing at his joke. He said, 'Why is this dude all serious?' He kept asking me if I had anything to say." Ivan said that he shook his head, but the comedian continued to pester him with questions. When Pete called Ivan an "asshole," his boyfriend sprung to his defense. "I said 'This is a student show sponsored by students,'" recalled Juan. "The comedian said, 'No, this is my show and you’re getting kicked out.'"
As the couple left, Pete reportedly flipped them off and some people in the crowd cursed them out.
Ivan told the Sun-Star that he wasn't trying to disrupt the show by wearing the Ariana Grande shirt. Rather, he's just a big fan of the pop singer, and was looking forward to her new album release five days after Pete's show. The Merced couple said that they were publicly humiliated by the incident, and bullied and harassed online afterwards. They are seeking an apology from the campus activities board and said they decided to speak to reporters after school administrators were dismissive.
"The university takes allegations of discrimination very seriously and have worked diligently to investigate this incident," said a UC Merced spokesperson. "Campus officials in Student Affairs have met with the involved students on multiple occasions and have offered several resources... for the students to report the incident. No report has been filed at this time."
