Pete Davidson addresses expletive-ridden voicemail to PETA about new dog: 'It was a poor choice of words'

Pete Davidson is sharing the reason behind his decision to leave an expletive-ridden voicemail for PETA's Senior VP of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch earlier this week.

On Monday, the Bupkis creator left a furious message for Nachminovitch — which was later obtained by TMZ — after she called him out in a statement to the outlet for recently purchasing, rather than adopting, a Cavapoo puppy at an NYC store. In the message, Davidson explained that the dog was a gift for his mother, whose dog Henry had died.

"I haven't seen my mom and sister cry like that in over 20 years. I was trying to cheer up my family," Davidson later told TMZ after the voicemail was released. "I was already upset that the store had filmed me without my permission or acknowledgement. Then this organization (PETA) made a public example of us, making our grieving situation worse. I am upset. It was a poor choice of words. I shouldn't have said what I said, but I am not sorry for standing up for myself and my family."

The whole debacle began when Nachminovitch criticized Davidson for not seeking out "a borough-born mutt from a city animal shelter" after video footage of him purchasing the puppy was leaked. She added, "PETA urges Pete to show some big heart energy by adopting, not shopping, in the future."

In response, Davidson left a colorful message to Nachminovitch that began, "Thank you so much for making comments publicly that I didn't adopt a dog." He went on to note that he is "severely allergic to dogs" and, as a result, has to "get a specific breed."

He also revealed that his mom's dog had "died a week prior" and encouraged Nachminovitch to "do your research before you [bleep] create news stories for people because you're a boring, tired, [bleep]." He concluded, "[Bleep] you and suck my [bleep]."

Following Davidson's voicemail, PETA told TMZ that "there's no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog," and that "at least a quarter of dogs in shelters are purebreds, and that Petfinder has listings for homeless dogs of every breed under the sun, including the one he purchased." (Davidson later acknowledged to the outlet that he was unaware he could "adopt a specific hypoallergenic dog" and said he was told that "it wasn't an option, and if it was, it was rare.")

The organization added, "Our hearts go out to the Davidson family for the loss of their dog, but Pete must know in his heart that there's no excuse for buying a dog and propping up the puppy mill industry when millions of dogs await loving homes in shelters, and we hope he'll do the right thing and adopt next time."

EW has reached out to Davidson's reps for comment, but did not immediately hear back.

In May, Davidson's friend Dave Sirius posted a collection of photos of Henry and shared a personal letter from Davidson about the two-year-old pup's passing on Instagram.

"Yesterday we lost a key member of the Davidson family. Henry was only 2 years old but unfortunately got very sick very fast," Davidson wrote. "My mom, sister and I got Henry at the beginning of the pandemic and he saved our lives. Not sure id even be around without him. He was the happiest and sweetest dog ever. He used to get excited when he saw me and would pee everywhere."

"When I was working at SNL my mom would send me videos of him watching, smiling and making noise when I came on screen," he continued. "I don't ever really watch any of my stuff with anyone as I'm far too scared but I didn't mind watching with Henry. He was truly the best. My mom, sister and I are broken and will miss him forever. We love you Henry. Thank you for making our lives fuller and reminding me what actually matters."

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