Pete Davidson got the opposite of a hero's welcome in Syracuse, NY this weekend.
Three years ago, the Saturday Night Live star declared the central New York city, where he filmed a movie with Machine Gun Kelly, to be "trash." On Saturday, Feb. 5, wearing a winter Syracuse University Orange men's hat and a pair of sunglasses, Pete attended the college's basketball game against the Louisville Cardinals at the Carrier Dome. During a timeout in the first half, the crowd booed him. The moment was captured on the jumbotron and shown on ESPN2's live broadcast.
Pete, who sat with central New York businessman and Syracuse athletics superfan Adam Weitsman, was a good sport about the booing, laughing, clapping and waving when he saw himself on the jumbotron.
Syracuse.com reporter Mike Curtis later quoted Pete as saying, "I don't hate Syracuse" and added that his past comments about the city "just didn't really come out the best way."
In summer 2018, Pete and MGK filmed the movie Big Time Adolescence in the city. That September, Pete said on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show, "Dude, I was shooting this movie out in Syracuse. Syracuse, you know, it's trash."
The native of the New York City borough of Staten Island continued, "Worse than Staten Island. The nicest hotel in Syracuse is, like, a f--king Ramada."
Pete, who also filmed MGK's music video "Loco" in Syracuse, dissed the city in an on-camera January 2019 Variety interview as well. "It sucks. The whole town of Syracuse blows" he said about the place, sitting next to MGK and fellow actors Griffin Gluck and Jon Cryer.
During the chat, Pete also claimed that when he was in Syracuse, "The cops, because there's nothing going on there, they were hunting me down the whole time."
Town of Manlius Police Capt. Kevin Schafer told Syracuse.com that in August 2018, Pete was pulled over for violating vehicle and traffic law. He said its officers do not target anyone, adding, "When we stop a vehicle, we don't know who's in it." According to the news outlet, the star was not charged, although his passenger and friend was cited for unlawful possession of marijuana and pleaded guilty to the charge, which resulted in a fine.
During his time in Syracuse in 2018, Pete was occasionally spotted at local restaurants and businesses, including with then-fiancée Ariana Grande, and also performed at a charity comedy show.
"They tried to arrest me for bringing business to your town," he said in the Variety chat, flipping the bird and drinking a beer. "Never again, Syracuse."
In July 2019, it was announced that Pete would perform two shows at the Syracuse Funny Bone comedy club the following August. However, days before the gigs, he canceled his appearances due to "unforeseen circumstances," Syracuse.com reported.
In January 2021, Pete gave Syracuse a shoutout by wearing an SU sweatshirt on SNL.