Twenty-five years after a 7-year-old boy lost his dad in the September 11 attacks, that same boy is now a father himself standing at the exact age his firefighter father was when he died.
Pete Davidson, the comedian known for turning personal pain into sharp humor, marked the 25th anniversary of 9/11 with a quiet, direct video for the nonprofit 9/11 Day’s UNIITE For Good campaign. Sitting on a wooden stool in a simple yellow studio, he spoke straight to camera while childhood photos of him with his father, Scott Matthew Davidson, filled the other half of the frame.
“25 years ago, my dad, Scott Davidson, was killed on 9/11. He was a firefighter for Ladder 118, Engine 205 in Brooklyn Heights,”
Davidson said.
“My dad loved being a fireman, and he loved saving people, as he did on that day.”
He called the anniversary “usually a tough day,” then pointed to the campaign’s simple ask: do a good deed for someone and pass it along.
“You try to make the day a little bit lighter. Together, let’s show up for each other. Let’s unite for good. I think my dad would have loved that.”
The campaign set a goal of one million pledged acts of kindness by September 11, 2026 anything from thanking a first responder to helping a neighbor logged on an interactive map at 911day.org. Davidson also kicked off a related “UNIITE With Me” social challenge.
Scott Davidson, 33, served with Ladder Company 118 in Brooklyn Heights. On September 11, 2001, he and his crew responded after the second plane struck the World Trade Center. All six men on their truck died while helping with evacuations; the FDNY lost 343 firefighters that day.
Pete was 7. Now 32 and approaching the age his father never passed, he has a daughter of his own. Scottie Rose was born in December 2025 and named partly in honor of her grandfather. Davidson has said this anniversary felt “extra tough, but also extra beautiful” because he could spend it with her.
The day before the anniversary, he co-hosted “NYC Still Rising After 25 Years,” a comedy benefit at Madison Square Garden with Jon Stewart, raising money for organizations that support 9/11 first responders and their families.
The video itself stays restrained no jokes, no spectacle. Just a son remembering a man who loved the job of saving people, and a new father asking the rest of us to keep that spirit alive through ordinary acts of kindness. In a country still wrestling with division, Davidson’s message lands as both personal and practical: the best tribute may be the one that helps the living.
