Pete Davidson is one of the most talked about young comedians, but not always for the reason he would hope. There has been increased interest in his personal life and in Davidson's romances with Kim Kardashian and more that often distract from his robust comedy and acting career. The SNL alum recently opened up about how he feels about this attention, and why he was so blindsided when the media took such a keen attention to his dating life.
Davidson was a guest on Real Ones, AKA Jon Bernthal’s podcast, where The Bear cast member often gets candid with Hollywood's biggest names. The comedian naturally was a guest of interest as the focus on his personal life has been such a tabloid hot topic pretty much ever since he started on Saturday Night Live. Davidson got real about how the situation has affected his public perception, and how his peers have seen him in Hollywood. He found it especially frustrating as it was happening so early in his career before his comedy was fully developed. He told Bernthal:
I think what happened was I became more known before the work was there, but I was always working… I’m in my 20s and I’ve dated people and for some reason that’s very crazy and interesting to people. I don’t think it’s that interesting.
Davidson has been in his teen years and 20s throughout his Hollywood career, and in that time period, he has dated around; however, this isn’t abnormal for a lot of people in this transitional stage. However, Davidson’s unique position as a public figure starring on a major comedy show attracts attention. Nevertheless, he has still found the whole thing bizarre, especially considering he isn’t on social media broadcasting his relationships. He continued:
I’ve been in show business for half my life almost, for like 14-15 years, on a national TV show and in 12 years I’ve dated like 10 people? I don’t really think that’s that crazy, but to some people that seems very interesting and that became all anyone would talk about and that could be confusing because I’m not on Instagram, I’m not on social media, I’m not flexing.
For context, Pete Davidson hasn’t dated just anyone since he made his small screen debut. The comedian has been connected to some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
He dated and was soon engaged to Ariana Grande in 2018, which he reflected upon in his 2020 comedy special, and Grande even wrote a song with his name in the title. He also publicly dated Kim Kardashian and accompanied her to the 2022 Met Gala before they broke up after 9 months of dating. Phoebe Dynevor, Margaret Qualley, and Kate Beckinsale have also been linked to the Bupkis actor at different times. Plus, he also was tied to co-star Chase Sui Wonders and allegedly even to Madelyn Cline at another point.
Much of Davidson’s dating history has been very high-profile, but as the comedian explains, working at SNL has meant that these are the kinds of people he has met organically. He explained:
These people that I’ve dated, I met them at work. I wasn’t in anyone’s DMs, no one was in mine. Like, I worked at one of the five Hollywood epicenters of meet- where you meet people. And that’s just who I was working with and who I was around, like that’s how it happens.
This certainly makes sense, as SNL is a revolving door of famous people, with a new star being introduced to the cast every week. Aside from Davidson, many SNL cast members and other creatives have found their partners on the NBC sketch show. Colin Jost married Scarlett Johansson after meeting her on SNL, and Emma Stone also met husband Dave McCary there, as he was a writer on the show when she hosted.
For Davidson, the whole thing is a matter of misaligned public perception, and his personal life is a natural extension of his professional sphere, not a sideshow designed for tabloid fodder. His comments to Jon Bernthal highlight his inner feelings towards his comedy career in general, and why he has become much more private about his personal life in recent years.
No matter what the magazines say about the star, Pete Davidson continues to put in the work and he's had plenty of post-SNL projects to help him build that resumé outside of his personal life. Fans of the actor can check out his most recent stand up special, Turbo Fonzarelli which is streaming now for Netflix subscription.
