Pete Davidson's jokes about gay men who aren't "f*cking gay at all" in his Netflix stand-up comedy special, "Alive From New York," were not well-received by some folks. The special premiered on Netflix on Tuesday, and the comedian delves into some pretty controversial topics, including his relationship with ex-fiancée, Ariana Grande. However, the subject matter that has garnered him the most criticism is his approach to "gay dudes," in particular the ones who get too handsy with the women he dates.
In the clip, which served as the trailer for the special, Pete discusses how he has "a lot of gay friends," bu that there's "always one gay friend" that he doesn't think is actually gay. “It’s that gay dude that’ll run up on your girlfriend and squeeze her boobs and slap her ass and be like, ‘Damn, girl, you look great!’ ”
“I don’t find that f*cking funny. Like, at all," he continues. "I’m sorry. Like, I’m all for the gayness, you know, it doesn’t mean I’m against gayness. It’s just like, you get to slap ass on a technicality? That’s not f*cking fair at all. Right in front of you, walk up, slap the ass and giggle. Just cause he could. I would never do that just because I could. I wouldn’t, like, walk up to his boyfriend and like tug his d*ck and be like, ‘Nice, Gary! Not for me, but cool!’”
The bit sparked a debate on Twitter about whether Pete's stance was harmful or true. Writer Jill Gutowitz shared a now-viral thread about how the joke is “extremely damaging" to gay men and queer people as a whole. However, plenty of women took to the replies in defense of Pete's argument, recalling instances in which gay men have groped them without their consent. Annie Malamet, a Brooklyn-based educator and podcast host, spoke to The New York Post about her own experiences with gay men touching and looking at her inappropriately, noting that it is still sexual harassment. “It just takes a different shape with gay men because they don’t want to have sex with us,” she specifies.