“Saturday Night Live’s” 50th anniversary special in February may have been attended by everyone from Robert De Niro to Kim Kardashian, but according to “SNL” alum Pete Davidson, the audience inside the room was “terrible.”
In an appearance on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” on Wednesday, Davidson — who stars in the new comedy “The Pickup” with Eddie Murphy — revealed that there weren’t as many laughs during the live show as one would expect.
“Well, as you know from ‘SNL40,’ terrible audience,” Davidson told Meyers. “It’s a terrible audience. It’s just famous people, and famous people only like themselves.”
However, Davidson admitted that he’s “guilty of this” as well, with Meyers joking: “I remember when the pre-tape was playing, you were the only one laughing. We were like, ‘Oh, he’s coming in way too hot.’”
For the special, Davidson reprised his famous Chad character in a pre-taped sketch with original cast member Laraine Newman. “It’s my one character that I got to do. In eight years of ‘SNL,’ I had one character,” Davidson said with a laugh. “But it’s not a very flattering character. Everyone was so excited to see Laraine, and then I just have my shirt off.”
Despite the lack of enthusiasm, Davidson admitted that the audience wasn’t all bad — he even got to sit next to Meryl Streep.
“Meryl rules,” Davidson said of the Oscar winner. “I get to my seat and I just look and I’m like, ‘This can’t be right.’ And it was Meryl Streep and I just sat down and I was like, ‘I’m so sorry that I’m sitting next to you. You’re the best.’ And she was very nice.”
Watch Davidson’s full interview with Meyers below.