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

Picture: NBC via YouTube/@arianagrande via Instagram

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:

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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.

that entire pete davidson bit just made me so uncomfortable he just joked that he replaced her birth control with tic-tacs so she couldn’t go anywhere i’m fucking disgusted — katie 🍂 (@pumpkinspicerey) September 30, 2018

COOL a joke about fucking with a woman’s birth control after this fucking week thanks Pete Davidson — Hayley Schueneman (@bluesuedeschue) September 30, 2018

pete davidson just joked about switching ariana’s birth control with tic tacs. really. — marisa kabas (@MarisaKabas) September 30, 2018

reproductive coercion is a form of domestic violence.... https://t.co/X1uoOf2lFj — Franchesca Ramsey (@chescaleigh) October 1, 2018

[cw sexual abuse]



I was really enjoying @nbcsnl tonight until Pete Davidson made a joke about switching Ariana Grande’s birth control with tic tacs so she couldn’t go anywhere.



That joke would be horrifying on a normal week, but THIS week?



WTF, SNL, this is Not OK — Brian Sinclair (@brianarn) September 30, 2018

Generally I thought Pete Davidson was funny, but until birth control sabotage stops being a common form of abuse and a way abusers trap women in dangergous relationships, I'm not going to laugh at that joke #SNLPremiere — Ariel Rose (@ArielRoseV) September 30, 2018

did pete davidson just make a joke about switching ariana’s birth control with tic tacs so she’d get pregnant and would be obligated to stay with him



.....wut — Kara ✨ (@kyloporg) September 30, 2018

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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?