In the wake of the release of The Pickup, Pete Davidson has come out to share how his co-star Eddie Murphy influenced him to alter his social circle. During a recent discussion, the renowned comedian revealed that Murphy’s way of dealing with people inspired him to narrow his friend group down to just three close mates.
Pete Davidson shares how Eddie Murphy helped him cut down friends
While speaking with People, Pete Davidson revealed that during their time together on the set of The Pickup, he noticed that Eddie Murphy only maintains a close-knit group of friends. Having understood the perks of adopting such an approach, the Saturday Night Live alum ultimately decided to make changes in his own life.
“I’ve been guilty of having 700 friends in the green room. People I just met or are just in the crew, and then I’m like, ‘Why did they not have my best interest in mind?’ he said. Davidson then shed light upon the Shrek star’s way of managing connections by saying, “[Murphy] has a really small crew, and it’s the same people for a really long time, and I think that’s really important to have an efficient career and just overall life in this business. You have to be able to trust who’s around you, and you got to be able to move a certain type of way.”
As such, Davidson decided to draw boundaries in his own life by curtailing his friend group to just three members. “Pretty much after that movie, I was like, ‘OK, I have three friends. Here’s who they are. Here’s who I have to trust and share things with,” he added.
Led by Davidson, Murphy, and Keke Palmer, The Pickup premiered on Prime Video on August 6, 2025, and has since garnered a largely negative response from critics and viewers alike. At the time of writing, the action-comedy feature sits with an abysmal 28% Rotten Tomatoes critic score, along with a slightly better 42% audience score.
