Pete Davidson's "Horrifying" Joke About Ariana's Birth Control Has Infuriated A Lot Of People

1 October 2018, 14:42

Pete Davidson Birth Control Joke SNL
Picture: NBC via YouTube/@arianagrande via Instagram
Katie Louise Smith

By Katie Louise Smith

Given the ill-timing of the joke, the internet is less than impressed with the comedian's controversial comments about his fianceé's birth control pills.

Comedian Pete Davidson returned to Saturday Night Live on Saturday (Sept 29) and made an appearance on the show's Weekend Update segment as himself. He filled us all in with news of his wild summer with new fiancée Ariana Grande, made a lot of self-depreciating jokes about his own appearance and also managed to piss off a lot of people with one very ill-timed joke about Ariana's contraception.

By now, you should know that Pete Davidson's sense of humour is somewhat of an... acquired taste, shall we say? He's incredibly self critical, often makes jokes about his late father and his own mental health and he's always toeing the line between what's appropriate and what's not. But it seems like one of his latest jokes has really infuriated the internet.

After discussing how he still can't believe how he ended up with Ariana, he joked, "Last night I switched her birth control with Tic-Tacs... I believe in us and all, but I just want to make sure that she can't go anywhere."

You can hear Pete made the quip at 2m 13s in the video below:

Weekend Update: Pete Davidson on His Engagement to Ariana Grande - SNL

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Reproductive coercion (which is what Pete was joking about) is a form of domestic violence that a lot of women have unfortunately had to deal with. Pete clearly meant the comment as a joke but given the current important on-going conversations surrounding the policing of women's bodies, women's rights, equality and women's voices in general, many viewers thought it was in poor taste and actually, quite disgusting. Fans of the show took to Twitter to call Pete out on it.

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Of course, none of us are qualified to comment on behalf of Ariana and what she should and shouldn't find offensive (she's yet to respond) but maaaaaybe read the room next time, Pete?