{"id":470,"date":"2026-09-14T14:24:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T18:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thetiesthatbind\/?p=470"},"modified":"2026-09-14T14:24:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T18:24:46","slug":"pete-davidson-says-becoming-a-father-changed-how-he-views-dads-death-on-9-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thetiesthatbind\/2026\/09\/pete-davidson-says-becoming-a-father-changed-how-he-views-dads-death-on-9-11.html","title":{"rendered":"Pete Davidson Says Becoming a Father Changed How He Views Dad\u2019s Death on 9\/11"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Featureflash Photo Agency \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pete Davidson has spent most of his life dealing with the loss of his father on 9\/11. But becoming a father himself has given that loss a new meaning.<\/p>\n

The former \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d star is now 33 \u2014 the same age his father, New York City firefighter Scott Davidson, was when he died responding to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018Oh, he was an old guy. He\u2019s 33,\u2019\u201d Davidson told the New York Post. \u201cBut now I\u2019m there, and I have a kid, and that would be like my kid not having her dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davidson welcomed his daughter, Scottie, with ex-girlfriend Elsie Hewitt last December. Her name is a tribute to Davidson\u2019s father, whose nickname was Scotty.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really cool that Elsie also wanted to name her Scottie,\u201d Davidson said. \u201cWhen she arrived, we both looked at her and were like, \u2018She looks like a Scottie.\u2019 It\u2019s nice to keep that name alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, as the nation marks 25 years since 9\/11, Davidson said the anniversary feels different. He plans to spend part of the day with his daughter before participating in a comedy benefit at Madison Square Garden with Jon Stewart.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year is extra tough, but also extra beautiful because I get to spend the day with Scottie,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019ll be very healing and special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davidson was only 7 when his father died. He has previously said his father\u2019s fire company was among the first to respond to the World Trade Center, and much of the crew was killed.<\/p>\n

Because Davidson was so young, he said he did not fully understand what had happened at the time. His mother initially tried to shield him from the news, telling him his father was still at work. Davidson later learned the truth after turning on the television and seeing his father listed among the firefighters who had died.<\/p>\n

The grief came into sharper focus as he got older.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really young, so I didn\u2019t know what happened, so it hit me later,\u201d Davidson said during an earlier podcast appearance. He has kept several belongings from his father, including his firefighter badge, chain and jacket.<\/p>\n

Davidson remembers his father as funny and almost always smiling. Even people who knew him years ago, he said, still light up when they share stories about him.<\/p>\n

Now Davidson faces a question his own mother once had to confront: how to explain an unimaginable loss to a child. He said he has not yet decided how he will eventually tell Scottie what happened to the grandfather whose name she carries.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily, I have some time,\u201d Davidson said.<\/p>\n

But fatherhood has already changed how Davidson understands what his own family lost 25 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, this year is way harder than it\u2019s been in a really long time because I have Scottie, and now I\u2019m the age that my dad was when he died,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I\u2019m just kind of like, \u2018Holy s—.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pete Davidson has spent most of his life dealing with the loss of his father on 9\/11. But becoming a father himself has given that loss a new meaning. The former \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d star is now 33 \u2014 the same age his father, New York City firefighter Scott Davidson, was when he died responding…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":473,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPete Davidson Says Becoming a Father Changed How He Views Dad\u2019s Death on 9\/11<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pete Davidson says turning 33, the age his firefighter dad was when he died on 9\/11, makes this year's anniversary "extra tough."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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