Pete Davidson’s mother, Amy Davidson, has shared a tribute post in honour of her late husband, who was killed at the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Amy took to Instagram on Monday (11 September) where she paid tribute to the former firefighter, Scott Matthew Davidson. “Happiest days of my life and I didn’t know it,” she wrote in the caption of the post, which included throwback photos featuring her and Scott, as well as a young Pete. “Never forget and always be grateful.”
The first image showed Amy and Scott sharing a hug, as subsequent images featured Pete and his sister, Casey Davidson, with their late father. She also included a photo of her late husband’s black work boots, while holding Scott’s photo above them.
Her eldest son is currently in the midst of his “Jon, John & Pete” tour with fellow comedians John Mulaney and Jon Stewart. During 10 September’s show, Davidson joked about having a “post-rehab glow” after reports surfaced that he had checked into a rehabilitation center amid ongoing struggles with his mental health.
The Saturday Night Live alum, 29, was receiving treatment for his previously diagnosed borderline personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Page Six. Sources also told People that Davidson “should be getting out” of the in-patient treatment center “pretty soon”.
“Pete will often check himself into rehab to work on these issues,” another source told the outlet. “His friends and family have been supportive during this time.”
Despite not referencing his father in Sunday’s performance, he previously opened up about his father during a wide-ranging conversation with actor Jon Bernthal on his Real Ones podcast. According to Davidson, who was seven when his father died, he did not find out his dad had passed until days later.
“The sentence that my therapist and I have agreed on is, like, my dad told me he was going to pick me up from school on 9/11,” the former SNL star said on the podcast, when asked about his PTSD stemming from childhood. “I got picked up by my mom, she didn’t tell me what was going on for, like, three days.”
He admitted to Bernthal that after the attacks, Amy told him that his father was still at work and was coming home. “I had no idea,” he continued, while recalling how his mother had told him he was “grounded” and “not allowed to watch TV”.
“And I was like, ‘What?’ Like, I didn’t do anything,” Davidson said. “And then one night I turned on the TV and I just saw my dad on TV, and they’re like, ‘These are all the firemen that are dead.’” The King of Staten Island star went on to say that he talked to his mother about what he’d seen on TV, but explained how it was “weird” because “we didn’t know he was dead for like three weeks”.
“They were finding people, you know? They were pulling people out and there was just some sort of hope and it was just up and down and nobody knew how to deal with it,” Davidson remembered.
He also detailed how the experience has had a lasting effect on him - as both a child and an adult - as he struggles with PTSD, borderline personality disorder, and a “fear of abandonment.”
“Dad says he’s going to come pick you up and he doesn’t. For life, I’m just like, I don’t believe anyone,” Davidson said. “I’m trying to learn how to believe people.”
