Pete Davidson has come under fire for a joke he made about the terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert, in which 22 people were killed.

The comedian, who is known for bad-taste routines, said the bombing must have made Grande aware of the height of her fame since “Britney Spears didn't have a terrorist attack at her concert”.

The joke was made at a stand-up gig back in October but survivors and relatives of those killed in the attack recently told the UK Mirror about their shock at the “disgusting” gag.

Grande herself weighed in on Thursday in response to a fan who wondered why the couple are still together following the resurfacing of the joke.

“This has been v tough & conflicting on my heart,” she tweeted in reply to the fan. She said her fiancé uses comedy to “help ppl feel better ab how f-ed up things in this world are” and that “we all deal w trauma differently.”

Davidson is known for joking about the death of his father, who was a firefighter killed in the 9/11 attacks.

However, fans were unimpressed with his joking about Manchester and Grande admitted she “of course didn't find it funny.”

this has been v tough & conflicting on my heart. he uses comedy to help ppl feel better ab how f-ed up things in this world are. we all deal w trauma differently. I of course didn’t find it funny. it was months ago & his intention wasn’t/ is never malicious but it was unfortunate

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) July 5, 2018

Many fans are showing support to Grande but calling for Davidson to publicly apologise.

okay but the manchester attack had NOTHING to do with him. I understand the ways he made jokes about his father's death to help cope but how was he affected by Manchester at all? How are his jokes in anyway supposed to make the victims feel better? It's just a sorry excuse.

— . (@vivaciousdemi) July 5, 2018

I think we're upset because it still has hurt so many people. It would be nice if he could apologise to the people who were at Manchester bc they ofc didn't find it funny either considering people lost their lives and were injured. I want you to know that no blame is on you ily

— Amy (@veganGrande_) July 5, 2018

He can use personal tragedies if that helps him cope but manchester had nothing to do with him. Its not his to joke about, and parents who lost their children at the concert are upset. Idk agree to disagree i guess.

— ʎɹɔoʇʇɟǝןsɹɐǝʇou ?‘? (@IoveIyGrandes) July 5, 2018

The pair announced their engagement last month after each ending long-term relationships in May.