Pete Davidson isn’t afraid to tell you how he feels – especially if you rock up to one of his comedy sets and spend the whole time on your phone.
The controversial funny man was performing to an audience of students at the University of Central Florida this week when he skipped the jokes for a lesson in manners.
“If you film everything, and not enjoy the show for an hour, I don’t gotta be here. I could just give their money back ‘cause I don’t give a f*ck,” he started his rant.
“Whenever someone else comes to your town and wants to perform, and is exhausted, and flies to the middle of f*cking nowhere to do jokes for you privileged little a**holes, don’t f*cking ruin the show for people who actually want to be here.”
When the audience clapped, Davidson quickly interjected: “No, don’t clap for me – half of you did it!”
“That’s why we’re embarrassing. That’s why the world is gonna end in 25 years, because you’re all f*cking retarded,” he yelled at the audience. “You should f*cking grow up. It says no phones…you’re supposed to behave. I have to have my boy f*cking patrol you guys like you’re five years old?”
“Don’t you want adults to respect us? Don’t you want your parents to be proud of you? Do you know how embarrassing it is to be our age and walk out and know everyone thinks you’re a f*cking idiot?”
There’s absolutely no excusing Pete Davidson’s poor choice of words, but he does have a point.
Whether you’ve bought a ticket to see an artist, comedian, or live talk, there always seems to be a sea of phones surrounding you – perfectly poised to capture whatever is going on on-stage.
It’s times like these I wonder: are these punters even watching the show? Or are they watching it through the dimensions of their phone screens, and later when comments come through on their Instagram stories?
Pete Davidson isn’t the only celeb to call out a crowd for having a phone addiction.
In 2016, singer Adele singled out a punter for recording her performance. “Could you stop filming me with that video camera? Because I’m really here in real life, you can enjoy it in real life rather than through your camera,” she said. The same year, Jennifer Lawrence called out of reporter for using his phone during an interview at the Golden Globes.
Performers including Alicia Keys, Guns N Roses, Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle have attempted to remedy the issue by forcing fans to ‘cloak’ their phones during live performances.
It might seem like an extreme reaction to fans who are merely trying to make memories, but it’s fair enough. If you’re watching an entire performance through your phone screen, are you really being present and enjoying the moment? Perhaps it’s time we put our phones on lock for a minute and enjoy the show, IRL.