The Real Reason Pete Davidson Is Missing From Lorne Michaels SNL Documentary
Pete Davidson was left out of the Lorne Michaels documentary — John Mulaney had already said it all.
If you watched Lorne, the new doc about Saturday Night Live mastermind Lorne Michaels, and wondered why Pete Davidson isn’t in it, here’s the deal. It’s less drama, more logistics and editing reality — with a little creative choice baked in.
So why isn’t Pete in the Lorne doc?
Director Morgan Neville says he simply had too many voices and not enough runway. In a People interview published Saturday, April 18, he explained that after sitting down with a pile of SNL alumni — including John Mulaney — the film was already packed. Add to that the fact that Davidson (32) wasn’t available when cameras first rolled, and Neville was staring at an overcrowded guest list with no clear place to put anyone else.
He also didn’t want the doc to turn into a greatest-hits scrapbook of celebrity anecdotes. The aim, per Neville, was to zero in on Michaels himself — now 81 — and figure out what actually makes him tick. All those wild war stories from the show? Fun, but often more about the storyteller than about Lorne. There are already massive books for that. This movie was meant to distill the guy at the center.
Pete and Lorne, for the record
Davidson has never been shy about how rough his early SNL years felt. In the 2025 doc SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, he talked about asking for a meeting with Michaels after year one, basically to get fired. He felt out of place and convinced the rest of the cast didn’t want him around. Michaels told him it takes a few seasons to find your footing and that the early stretch can be brutal. Davidson stuck it out for eight seasons and left in 2022 — and, by his own account, Lorne was in his corner the whole time.
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