--- description: Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson has revealed that his recent absence is because he was working to get sober. title: SNL's Pete Davidson Says He's Sober for First Time in 8 Years image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73e30528dce5ce8f/6988bd52f887dc0994e9956b/pete-davidson-drugs-sober.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Saturday Night Live's_ Pete Davidson Says He Is 'Sober for the First Time in Eight Years'  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 7, 2017 5:10 PM CUT  NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 17: Pete Davidson attends the 2016 American Museum of Natural History Museum Gala at the American Museum of Natural History on November 17, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 17: Pete Davidson attends the 2016 American Museum of Natural History Museum Gala at the American Museum of Natural History on November 17, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)Michael Loccisano—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 7, 2017 5:10 PM CUT [_Saturday Night Live_](http://time.com/4673000/the-uncanny-catharsis-of-saturday-night-live/ "undefined") star [Pete Davidson](http://time.com/4486897/pete-davidson-father-911-snl/ "undefined") revealed on Monday that he hasn’t been appearing much on the show lately or on social media because he’s been sobering up. In an Instagram posted to his account, the 23-year-old comedian talked about his decision to quit drugs after using them for eight years in the caption of the photo, while thanking his fans and followers for their love and support. “I quit drugs and am happy and sober for the first time in 8 years,” he wrote. “It wasn’t easy, but I got a great girl, great friends and I consider myself a lucky man.” Davidson, _SNL’s_ youngest cast member, has spoken openly about his drug use in the past. In an interview with [_High Times_](http://hightimes.com/culture/pete-davidson-interview/ "undefined") in 2016, Davidson talked about how he used marijuana to manage pain from his Crohn’s disease, going so far as to say he “wouldn’t be able to perform on _SNL_ if I couldn’t smoke weed!” See Davidson’s full Instagram post below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4693521/pete-davidson-on-addiction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4693521/pete-davidson-on-addiction/"},"headline":"Saturday Night Live's Pete Davidson Says He Is 'Sober for the First Time in Eight Years'","datePublished":"2017-03-07T17:10:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:41:41.309Z","description":"Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson has revealed that his recent absence is because he was working to get sober.","url":"https://time.com/4693521/pete-davidson-on-addiction/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","SNL","Saturday Night Live","entertainment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73e30528dce5ce8f/6988bd52f887dc0994e9956b/pete-davidson-drugs-sober.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73e30528dce5ce8f/6988bd52f887dc0994e9956b/pete-davidson-drugs-sober.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2016 American Museum Of Natural History Museum Gala","caption":"2016 American Museum Of Natural History Museum Gala","creditText":"Michael Loccisano—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4693521/pete-davidson-on-addiction/","name":"Saturday Night Live's Pete Davidson Says He Is 'Sober for the First Time in Eight Years'"}}]}] ```