Pete Davidson Discusses Conflict With Ye Four Years After Kim Kardashian Romance

In a new Variety cover story published Wednesday (Sept. 30), Pete Davidson reflected on the intense reaction from Kim Kardashian’s ex-husband Ye (formerly Kanye West) during his relationship with Kardashian, stating that he holds a lot of empathy for the rapper.

Back in 2022, Ye posted incendiary social media statements threatening Davidson, whom he nicknamed “Skete,” and released a music video for his song “Eazy” depicting the comedian’s decapitation.

“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,” Davidson told the publication, rejecting the idea that his being half-Jewish caused Ye to display antisemitic behavior afterward.

“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,” continued the Bodies Bodies Bodies actor, whose firefighter father died on 9/11. “Probably a lot of people who want to be his friend. I’ve had that. When people are so far up your a– 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–k alone. I’m just going to say crazy s–t.’ There’s zero way he really feels like that.”

Davidson noted that it tripped him out when his public openness about mental health struggles did not stop Ye from targeting him online. “It’s like he was [saying], ‘Kill yourself,’” the comedian said. “And he did push me.”

Regarding his nine-month relationship with the Skims founder, which ended around August 2022 after Kardashian filed for divorce from the Yeezy mogul in 2021, Davidson believes his presence in her life served a purpose. “I like to think I got that one out of the way for her, because whoever [she dated next] was gonna get it,” he said. “I cleared the path for her to get back into the dating pool.”

“And I was never subjected to anything I didn’t want to be a part of,” Davidson added. “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.”

See Davidson on the cover of Variety below.