Despite being generally young and seemingly well-liked, Pete Davidson is quite a divisive figure in popular culture. Whether it be his admittedly aggressive sense of humor, his tattoos, or his tabloid-filled relationship with Ariana Grande, there seems to be something about Davidson that rubs people the wrong way.
However, despite how you may feel about him personally, it’s tough to deny that he’s a funny, funny dude. If you disagree, I challenge you to watch this video of Davidson discussing the place where he grew up without cracking a smile:
But over the last six months, Davidson became more well known for his relationship with one of the world’s most famous pop stars than his comedy, as the pair quickly got engaged before he bleached his hair and started getting questionable tattoos.
However, now that his relationship with Grande seems to be unfortunately short-lived, Davidson is returning to what made him such a promising talent in the first place: blunt stand-up comedy.
While co-hosting a benefit for Swing Left with Judd Apatow in Los Angeles, Davidson addressed his relationship and consequent break-up with the “Dangerous Woman” singer and did so with his trademark honesty, via E! News:
“Well, as you could tell, I don’t want to be here. There’s a lot going on,” Davidson told the crowd. “Does anybody have any open rooms? Looking for a roommate?”
“Um, I’ve been covering a bunch of tattoos, that’s fun,” Davidson said. “I’m fuckking 0 for 2 in the tattoo [department]. Yeah, I’m afraid to get my mom tattooed on me, that’s how bad it is.”
“So, obviously you know I, we [Ariana and I] broke up or whatever but when me and her first got engaged we got tattoos,” he later continued. “And it was like in a magazine like, ‘Was Pete Davidson stupid?’ And 93% of it said yes,” Davidson told the audience. “So my boy, he was like, ‘Don’t listen to that s–t man. They’re literally f–king haters.’ And I’m like, yeah, f–k that. I’m not stupid. And the other day we were in my kitchen and he was like, ‘Yo bro. Turns out you were stupid.’”
However, Apatow — an OG of the current Hollywood comedy scene — was quick to praise Davidson for showing up to the event despite his recent public struggles. Davidson, as he does so well, quickly retorted: “Well, you put me on the flyer, I had to. F–k my feelings,” Davidson said.
“I care more about America than your feelings, I do,” Apatow joked. “I care more about America than Pete’s feelings.”
“I feel like I am America,” Davidson said. “I’m a good guy that just keeps getting kicked in the dick. You’re like, ‘Ah, that f–king poor kid. Hope he doesn’t kill himself.’ That’s America.”
Davidson will presumably make his first post-Grande SNL appearance on Saturday, November 4.