Pete Davidson was confirmed to be safe on Saturday night (NYC time), after an Instagram post where he indicated a serious deterioration in his mental health had friends and fans very worried.
“I really don’t want to be on this earth anymore. I’m doing my best to stay here for you but I actually don’t know how much longer I can last. All I’ve ever tried to do was help people. Just remember I told you so.”
He then deleted his social media accounts, including Instagram, where there were reportedly a number of aggressive and negative comments on the above post.
New York police reportedly performed a wellness check on Davidson at the SNL studios at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters, and an NBC rep separately contacted some media outlets to confirm he was at work, safe, and not alone.
(Update: Davidson sat out the evening’s live broadcast for the most part, but did appear briefly to introduce musical guests Miley Cyrus, Mark Ronson and Sean Ono Lennon,who sang ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’.)
A number of celebrities posted their support and condemned the trolls making harmful comments, while Ariana Grande (who he’s reportedly blocked) posted and then deleted worried posts indicating she’d rushed to his office or apartment building to offer support.
We can be so insensitive. God bless Kanye & Pete. Being flippant about mental illness speaks more about you than them. Stop saying the word love & live it. Love is an action.
— QUEEN (@NICKIMINAJ) December 15, 2018
Ariana Grande appears to have gone to try and visit Pete Davidson after he shared that he didn’t know how much longer he could last on Earth:
“I’m downstairs and I’m not going anywhere.” pic.twitter.com/OYOjAW4Cmb
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) December 15, 2018
Davidson has posted on social media about his mental health in the months since the end of his whirlwind engagement to Grande, and has been open about it in the past – from the early trauma of losing his firefighter father on September 11 to managing his Crohn’s disease, and what he believed was clinical depression but was later diagnosed as Borderline Personality Disorder.
“I’ve been getting online bullied and in public by people for 9 months. I’ve spoken about BPD and being suicidal publicly only in the hopes that it will help bring awareness and help kids like myself who don’t want to be on this earth,” he said in a post earlier this month.
“No matter how hard the internet or anyone tries to make me kill myself. I won’t. I’m upset I even have to say this.”
A history of self-harm is a critical element for a BPD diagnosis, and Davidson’s also spoken this year about a suicide attempt he made a few years after his father’s death.
His still-recent breakup, and the pressure of increased media and fan attention as a result of the relationship, could be risk factors as well.
But while it may be disturbing and scary for his fans and loved ones, making the post shows how Davidson is using his higher profile to model openness, even and especially when he’s really unwell.
Being open about your mental health, including the parts that are a struggle, doesn’t just help other people feel less alone. It also means that if you say something in any forum that sounds alarming, people know to take it seriously.
And if reaching out to anyone individually is too much to handle, it’s not indulgent or “attention-seeking” to throw a note on social media, any more than it’s attention-seeking to yell for help if, say, you get caught in a rip at the beach.
And just because someone posts on socials, and other people will have seen it, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try and help if you can. You might be the only one who reaches out.
Pete Davidson … hang in there. There is a lot of help out here. Surrender to some love some where around you … today! Right now! And then … let in the help that will become available. I’m praying for you Pete. I’ve been there. It gets better.
— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) December 15, 2018
Do Jada Pinkett-Smith and Pete Davidson know each other well? Who knows? You don’t need to be someone’s best mate to ask them if they’re OK, to call emergency services and ask them to check on someone, or to be the one who rallies a crowd around them to keep them safe.
If stories like this are hard for you or triggering, or if you want to know how to support someone who is suicidal, please talk to someone about it. Lifeline and Beyondblue are always there:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyondblue Suicide Callback: 1300 659 467
Lifeline also has some simple resources to support someone who’s suicidal.