What did Pete Davidson say about Syracuse? SNL star booed at basketball game

Pete Davidson was at the Syracuse Orangemen versus Louisville Cardinals basketball game at the Carrier Dome. He was booed and groaned at by the audience last Saturday, three years after he made some controversial comments on the city of Syracuse.

The Saturday Night Live star did not receive a warm welcome when he asked fans present at the Syracuse University game:

"Orange you glad to have me here?"

Syracuse basketball reporter Mike Curtis later took to Twitter to share a video message from Davidson. Davidson, who is now seeking a truce with the city of Syracuse, said in the video:

“Thank you so much for having me and my friends in the building. We had a really great time. So, peace?”

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What really caused the backlash Pete Davidson faced at the game?

Pete Davidson, a Staten Island native who has previously been to Syracuse to film the 2019 movie titled Big Time Adolescence, dissed the city while making an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, saying:

"Dude, I was shooting this movie out in Syracuse. Syracuse, you know, it’s trash. Worse than Staten Island. The nicest hotel in Syracuse is, like, a f***ing Ramada.”

In a 2019 interview with Variety, Davidson once again belittled the city, as he stated:

“It sucks. The whole town of Syracuse blows.”

It may have been three years since he made those remarks, but, evident from their stony reception, residents of Syracuse have not yet let any of his negative comments slip.

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The comedian later explained his previous comments in a recent interview

During his time spent in Syracuse back in 2018, Davidson was pulled over by the local police. His friend and fellow passenger, Joey Gay, was arrested for marijuana possession. In an interview with Syracuse.com, Davidson stated:

"This is Syracuse and I made fun of them, but I thought it was hilarious. I don’t think people know the full story of how I was shooting a movie here and I was having a great time and then the cops found out where we were shooting and then they came and harassed us. They arrested one of my friends for, like, minimal weed possession, just to be annoying."

Adam Weitsman and Pete Davidson (Image via AP)

He explained that he has nothing against the city, as he told the outlet:

“So when I was being interviewed about it, they were like, “How was your time in Syracuse?” and I was like, ‘The movie was great, but it kinda sucks because we were getting followed around.’ And then they just took it and ran with it. But I don’t hate Syracuse. That would be a very weird thing to randomly pick on, but it was kind of the timing and it just didn’t really come out the best way.”

Pete Davidson attended the game as a special guest for Adam Weitsman, a local entrepreneur and Syracuse athletics superfan who often invites his celebrity friends to turn up at sports events with him.