Justin Bieber’s Comedy Central Roast has tapped Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson to join the eclectic lineup of celebrity and straight up comic roasters.
Davidson, 21, will showcase his comic chops alongside the host Roast Master Kevin Hart, Jeffrey Ross, lifestyle guru Martha Stewart , former NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, rappers Ludacris and Snoop Dogg, and comedians Natasha Leggero, Hannibal Buress and Chris D’Elia.
Bieber will be roasted on Saturday, March 14 at Sony Studios in Los Angeles before a ticket-holding studio audience.
The highly anticipated public skewering will air on the Comedy Central Network at 10:00 p.m ET/PT on March 30.
Davidson is by far the youngest of the roasters and is, in fact, the same age as Bieber. A point mentioned by the singer himself on his Twitter feed on Friday, following the reveal.
The already incredible #BieberRoast dais just got even better with the addition of SNL comedian @PeteDavidson. pic.twitter.com/ZLANNi8OrE
— Comedy Central (@ComedyCentral) March 13, 2015
“@ComedyCentral @petedavidson someone my age? Wow. #BieberRoast,” the Biebs tweeted in reply.
@ComedyCentral @petedavidson someone my age? Wow. #BieberRoast
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) March 13, 2015
News of the latest roaster comes after a steady rollout of Comedy Central promos for the Bieber roast .
The latest, and fourth, features faux-Beliebers sobbing at the thought of their beloved hero being verbally mauled by rabid comedians.
All the roasters have been hyping up the event on their social media pages or elsewhere . Hart did so to the Biebs’ face at the Will Ferrell-hosted 11th Annual Desert Smash charity tennis tournament at the La Quinta Resort and Club in Indian Wells, Palm Springs, earlier this week.
After stressing that he didn’t intend to be “malicious” or “mean” at the roast, Hart assured Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush that he would get some shots in at Bieber .
When Bush asked Justin if he was nervous, the singer replied, “Man, I’ve gotta say I’m a little nervous, but it should be a lot of fun.”
On Thursday night Ross tweeted Hart, which prompted this response from Bieber.
@KevinHart4real @ComedyCentral @realjeffreyross damn. Lol
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) March 13, 2015
The New Jersey comedian has also been retweeting instructions from Beliebers, some of which — surprisingly — asked him to go hard on the singer.
more excited for justin biebers roast than graduation
— bri? (@briannabor) March 13, 2015
@realjeffreyross I’m a belieber and all but please….. Destroy him. Beliebers WANT to see that happen #PleaseJeffreyRoss
— Swaggy B (@Heel4Ever) March 13, 2015
Other fans called for temperance.
@realjeffreyross Dont hurt him. Beliebers loves so much him. We dont make joke. We care about him. #BieberRoast
— kidrauhl (@BizzleRauhllls) March 13, 2015
. @realjeffreyross All jokes aside, I seriously worry about the roast. I feel like they will hurt him and I don’t want this to happen please.
— PLEASE JUSTIN ? (@sirBizzle_2014) March 13, 2015
@realjeffreyross how much to go soft on Justin $$$$?
— (@biebermum) March 13, 2015
One seemingly neutral observer wrote the following.
All these beliebers tweeting at @realjeffreyross is the greatest thing ever. #CantStopRoastMasterGeneral
— Dadcore Champ (@Soultrain_Inc) March 13, 2015
Fans of Bieber’s ex-girlfriend, Selena Gomez, also gave D’Elia commands after he told Hollywood Life that he would be bringing up the actress-singer at the roast.
@selenurftzayn @chrisdelia don’t disrespect Selena during Justin roast Justin is the one getting roasted not Selena so don’t disrespect her
— Selena Lyion (@graham_nani) March 10, 2015
@chrisdelia talk about whatever you want just don’t say anything rude about Selena
— #iWantYouToKnow (@SelenaG_Smile) March 10, 2015
Noting the vested interests and polarizing nature of the singer, the “ Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber ,” which now includes Pete Davidson, could turn out to be the greatest yet in recent times.
[Images via Comedy Central/The Wall Group/Wenn]