Key Takeaways
- Pete Davidson joked that Kim Kardashian’s exes are “like the Marines,” but said she respected his boundaries and that they remain cool.
- Davidson said Kardashian’s high-security, constantly watched lifestyle became overwhelming while he faced mental health and drug issues.
- He said Kanye West’s threats during their nine-month relationship pushed him, though he also expressed empathy for the pressures West has endured.
Pete Davidson is speaking out about his past relationship with Kim Kardashian.
In a new interview with Variety, the 32-year-old actor and comedian jokingly likened himself as a survivor while speaking to journalist Marlow Stern.
“I’m one of the survivors — the few and the proud. We’re like the Marines,” Davidson said. “Look, man, that’s a really tough atmosphere if you’re not game. One of the things I love about Kim and that whole family is they’re like, ‘This is what we do.’ I found that very attractive and mature.”
He continued, “And I was never subjected to anything I didn’t want to be a part of. She was super respectful of all of it, but the craze of that lifestyle — being followed everywhere, having security and looking over your shoulder — for a guy with mental stuff, and at the time drug problems, was a little too much for me. But we’re cool, and I have a lot of love for her, and I knew what I was getting into.”
Davidson and Kardashian infamously shared a kiss during a skit on Saturday Night Live in October 2021 where they played Aladdin and Jasmine. A month later, the couple was confirmed to be officially dating by multiple sources, making it Kardashian’s first relationship following her divorce from the artist formerly known as Kanye West.
Ye posted since-deleted threats against Davidson on Instagram throughout the relationship and depicted a Claymation version of the comedian being kidnapped and beheaded in the music video for “Eazy.”
“What tripped me out is I was super open about mental stuff — everyone knows this about me — and it’s like he was [saying], ‘Kill yourself.’ And he did push me,” Davidson said of West’s behavior.
The comedian also had a surprisingly sympathetic spin on West’s repeated antisemitic rants.
“What people don’t understand about that dude — and I’m not one-one-millionth as talented or influential or powerful as that dude, but I have dealt with a fraction of what he’s had to deal with public-wise — is that’ll do it. He’s also lost a parent and has mental stuff, and I don’t know how he deals with it or who he has around him. Probably a lot of people who want to be his friend. I’ve had that.
“When people are so far up your ass and constantly pushing and provoking you and not showing you love, you want to burn it all. I think it got to a certain point where he was like, ‘Leave me the fuck alone. I’m just going to say crazy shit.’ There’s zero way he really feels like that.”
Davidson and Kardashian eventually called it quits in August 2022.
