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Pete Davidson revealed that he may have taken ketamine at an inappropriate time in his new Netflix comedy special Turbo Fonzarelli, which was released on the streaming platform on Tuesday, January 9. The comic, 30, revealed that he was high on the drug when he attended musical icon Aretha Franklin’s funeral in 2018 with his then-fiancée Ariana Grande, 30. In the story, he joked about a hilarious (albeit inappropriate) comment he made at the service.
The King of Staten Island star explained that he would take the drug to treat depression, and he said that he regretted being out while high. “I’m embarrassed I was out and about like that. That’s not cool,” he said, before quipping that the “Queen of Soul” would “never know” about him taking the drug, per Page Six.
After admitting his embarrassment, Pete further explained that his impairment led him to speak to Aretha’s loved ones and make a hilarious comment. “I was so high I thought it’d be a good idea to go up to her family and go, ‘Hey! I’m just here to pay my R-E-S-P-E-C-Ts,” he said, and the audience laughed.
Pete then made a self-deprecating joke about what he thinks Aretha would’ve said if she saw him at the funeral. “’Hey! Who are you and what the f**k are you doing at my funeral?’” he quipped. “It’s embarrassing.”
Pete attended the event after Aretha’s death at 76 in 2018. At the time, he was engaged to Ariana, who performed “Natural Woman” at the soul singer’s memorial concert. The “Positions” singer and comic split up after about five months together in October 2018.
This hasn’t been the first time that Pete has joked about his past relationship with Ariana. He opened up about how his time with the “7 Rings” singer really skyrocketed him to a new level of fame in his 2020 special Alive From New York. He admitted that it hurt for the relationship to overshadow his comedy. “It hurts. It definitely hurts. Because, you know, I’ve been doing this for like 10 years. So it sucks for a six-month thing to just completely take over that,” he said, via Newsweek.