Pete Davidson has said he doesn’t regret “standing up for his family” in an explicit voicemail to Peta, in which he told the controversial animal rights group to "suck my d***”, after they criticised the Saturday Night Live alum for purchasing a dog from a pet store.
The King of Staten Island actor and his girlfriend, Chase Sui Wonders, were recently spotted purchasing a new cavapoo from Citipups in New York City – weeks after announcing that his family was mourning the loss of their two-year-old dog, Henry, who got “very sick very fast”.
However, Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) took issue with the comedian purchasing his family’s new pup from a pet store, rather than adopting one from a shelter. Daphna Nachminovitch – Peta’s senior vice president of cruelty investigations – criticised Davidson’s decision in a statement to TMZ on Monday (5 June).
“It’s tragic that Pete didn’t seek out a borough-born mutt from a city animal shelter, because a scrappy New Yorker with charm, personality, and unconventional handsomeness could have been his perfect match,” she said. “Since shelters in New York and across the country are overflowing with homeless animals, Peta urges Pete to show some big heart energy by adopting, not shopping, in the future.”
It seemed that the Bupkis actor caught wind of Peta’s public service announcement when he left an explicit voicemail to Nachminovitch. In the voicemail, which was released by TMZ, Davidson explained his reasoning for purchasing the pet – while still telling the organisation to “suck my d***”.
“Hi, my name is Pete Davidson. This message is for Daphna,” he said in the voicemail. “Thank you so much for making comments publicly that I didn’t adopt a dog. I just want to let you know I’m severely allergic to dogs so I have to get a specific breed.”
The Meet Cute star mentioned that he purchased the puppy because his family has been “so sad” since the passing of their two-year-old dog, Henry. He also explained that he’s allergic to dogs, and claimed that cavapoos are the only breed that don’t activate his allergies.
Davidson continued: “I’m only not allergic to cavapoos and those type of dogs and my mom’s f***ing dog, who’s two years old, died a week prior and we’re all so sad so I had to get a specific dog.
“So why don’t you do your research before you f***ing create news stories for people because you’re a boring tired [bleeped, unclear],” he added. “F*** you and suck my d***!”
Peta then doubled down on their criticisms of Davidson in another statement to TMZ, claiming that “there’s no such thing” as a hypoallergenic dog.
“If Pete had done his research, he would know that there’s no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog, that at least a quarter of dogs in shelters are purebreds, and that Petfinder has listings for homeless dogs of every breed under the sun, including the one he purchased,” they replied.
Now it appears that Davidson has calmed down since leaving the expletive-heavy voicemail to Peta. While the 29-year-old actor defended some of his comments, saying that he was “not sorry” for standing up for his family, Davidson did admit that he used a “poor choice of words” in his leaked voicemail.
“I haven’t seen my mom and sister cry like that in over 20 years,” Davidson told TMZ on Tuesday (6 June). “I was trying to cheer up my family. I was already upset that the store had filmed me without my permission or acknowledgment. Then this organisation (Peta) made a public example of us, making our grieving situation worse.”
“I am upset. It was a poor choice of words,” he added. “I shouldn’t have said what I said, but I am not sorry for standing up for myself and my family.”
The Independent has contacted Davidson for comment.
Last month, Davidson revealed that his family’s dog Henry had died at just two years old. Dave Sirus, who is a writer on Davidson’s new comedy series Bupkis, shared the announcement on behalf of Davidson to his Instagram account.
“Yesterday we lost a key member of the Davidson family. Henry was only two years old but unfortunately got very sick very fast. My mom, sister and I got Henry at the beginning of the pandemic and he saved our lives,” the post read. “Not sure I’d even be around without him. He was the happiest and sweetest dog ever, he used to get excited when he saw me and would pee everywhere.”
“When I was working at SNL my mom would send me videos of him watching, smiling and making noise when I came on screen. I don’t ever really watch any of my stuff with anyone as I’m far too scared but I didn’t mind watching with Henry,” he recalled.
Davidson went on to describe Henry as “truly the best”, adding that he and his mother, Amy Waters Davidson, and sister Casey were “broken and will miss him forever”.
“We love you Henry,” he said. “Thank you for making our lives fuller and reminding me what actually matters.”
