Jon Stewart and Pete Davidson set 9/11 benefit at Madison Square Garden
Jon Stewart and Pete Davidson will lead a 25th anniversary 9/11 charities comedy benefit at MSG on September 10.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
3 min read
Jon Stewart and Pete Davidson are getting the band back together for a 9/11 benefit at Madison Square Garden, with a new comedy event tied to the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Deadline reported.
The show, titled NYC Still Rising After 25 Years: A 9/11 Charities Comedy Benefit, is scheduled for September 10 at MSG. Stewart and Davidson will lead the event, which is being staged to support 9/11 charities, according to Deadline.
The announced lineup already has a serious comedy bench: Aziz Ansari, Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, Ronny Chieng, Nikki Glaser and Josh Johnson are among the performers listed so far. Deadline reported that more names are still to be announced.
When is the Jon Stewart and Pete Davidson 9/11 benefit?
The benefit is set for September 10 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale Friday, July 31, at 10 a.m. ET, according to Deadline.
The new show follows Stewart and Davidson’s 2021 event, NYC Still Rising After 20 Years: A Comedy Celebration, which also raised money for 9/11 charities. That earlier benefit featured Chappelle, Burr, Chieng, Amy Schumer, John Mulaney, Jimmy Fallon, Wanda Sykes, Colin Jost, Michael Che, Colin Quinn, Dave Attell, Jay Pharoah and Tom Segura, Deadline reported.
At the time of the 2021 show, Stewart and Davidson said in a joint statement, quoted by Deadline: “We wanted to put on a fun celebration to honor this great city’s resilience. It’s nice to be able to do this with friends and people we love.”
Why are Stewart and Davidson connected to 9/11 causes?
Davidson has a personal connection to the attacks. Deadline reported that he was 7 when his father, FDNY firefighter Scott Davidson, was on duty with Ladder Company 118 in Brooklyn Heights as the call came in about the World Trade Center attack.
According to Deadline, Scott Davidson and five other firefighters went to the scene and were killed while evacuating the Marriott World Trade Center hotel as the North Tower collapsed, burying the building and the fire truck in the destruction.
Stewart has long been publicly associated with efforts to secure health care and financial compensation for 9/11 first responders and survivors, Deadline reported. In 2019, he spoke at a Capitol Hill hearing before rows of empty seats while criticizing lawmakers over inaction on the reauthorization of the World Trade Center Health Program.
Deadline quoted Stewart’s 2019 remarks about first responders: “They responded in five seconds. They did their jobs with courage, grace, tenacity, humility. Eighteen years later, do yours.” Congress later reauthorized the fund, and Stewart received New York City’s Bronze Medallion, the city’s highest civic honor, according to Deadline.
The September show brings Stewart and Davidson back to MSG after their 2021 charity format, this time with the anniversary marker moving from 20 years to 25 years and another heavyweight comedy lineup on deck.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.