Pete Davidson Says He Endured Kanye West's Attacks To Help Kim Kardashian

Pete Davidson seems to have gotten a lot of clarity on the very public firestorm surrounding his love life in the early 2020s now that he’s about five years out from it all. Back in 2021, the comedian struck up an unexpected romance with Kim Kardashian, which only lasted for a year but became an inescapable source of controversy. That was largely due to Kardashian’s very vocal ex-husband Kanye West, who frequently disparaged Davidson in song lyrics and social media posts amid his ongoing divorce from Kardashian at the time.

Davidson opened up about this fraught year in a Sept. 30 Variety profile, admitting that West’s attacks began to feel dangerously personal after the video for his song “Eazy” depicted a claymation model of Davidson being murdered. “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.

Despite the targeted aggression, Davidson has empathy for what he imagines West was going through in that moment. “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,” Davidson said. “When people are so far up your *ss 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 f*ck alone. I’m just going to say crazy sh*t.’ There’s zero way he really feels like that.”

Looking back on the situation now, Davidson believes that part of the reason he endured the constant vitriol from West was in aid of Kardashian. “I like to think I got that one out of the way for her because whoever that guy was going to be was gonna get it,” Davidson said. “I cleared the path for her to get back into the dating pool.”

The comedian clarified that he has no bad blood with Kardashian or her family after their 2022 breakup. “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,” Davidson said. “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.”