‘It’s Not Easy’: Kenan Thompson Talks About Ex-SNL Co-Star Pete Davidson And How ‘Scrutinized’ He Is

Saturday Night Live’s cast over the years has been filled with talented and famous performers on the rise. Some of the biggest comedic stars in Hollywood worked at Studio 8H early in their careers, and as such, it feels like the media is often particularly focused on at least one of the buzzy cast members and their personal life away from the show. Over the last decade, that spotlight has obviously shined the brightest on Pete Davidson, and it’s part of why his longtime SNL co-star Kenan Thompson is so ‘proud’ of him.

The quote was given as part of a recent interview Thompson did with Variety. The longtime SNL star sat with Bowen Young to discuss everything from cancel culture to Dave Chapelle’s much talked about appearance to how much attention the cast gets. That’s when the subject of Davidson came up, and Thompson said he’s ‘proud’ of him for how he persevered in the face of all the attention, which, in his perspective, is a lot more than it used to be.

The personal lives of celebrities have always been a hot topic in Hollywood. A certain segment of the press has been focused on covering famous hook-ups, break-ups and personal life scandals since Hollywood started churning out movies more than a hundred years ago, but as much as things have stayed the same, they’ve also changed dramatically thanks to social media and the twenty-four hour news cycle. The comedian has likely felt that more intensely than almost any celebrity ever, as there was a multiple year period in which Davison's entire dating history and personal life choices became the subject of numerous speculative articles and tweets from fans who were willing to say almost anything.

Fortunately, Davidson seems to have come out the other side with his head on his shoulders and a career intact. He recently shot some big upcoming movies with Eddie Murphy and Orlando Bloom, respectively, and he remains one of the most in-demand comedic actors working in Hollywood today. He also seems to have settled into a much quieter, low key relationship with Madelyn Cline that hasn’t been nearly as scrutinized as most of his dating choices in the past.

As for Thompson, he’s taking a well-deserved summer break before returning to 30 Rock to shoot the long-awaited Season 50 of Saturday Night Live. The comedian, who is the longest tenured cast member in SNL history, has hinted in the past that it may finally be his last on the legendary sketch comedy show, but we still don’t know that for sure, nor do we know if it’ll be the last for longtime showrunner and creator Lorne Michaels. For now, all we can do is enjoy whatever it is they have left and wait for the next cast member to break out and get ‘scrutinized’ by the press, as so many have before.