If you’ve ever impulsively gotten a tattoo after a breakup or during a late-night out with friends drinking and partying, you’re not alone. However, if you are planning to get “de-inked,” just ask Pete Davidson, who is sort of an expert.
The SNL alum has been in the process of getting his tattoos removed since 2020, and he’s recently given a timeline on how long the process will take (maybe his experience will make you think twice before getting a tattoo to honor your partner, who your friends call a walking red flag).
Pete Davidson: From Inked-Up to Camera Ready
One of the reasons Pete Davidson decided to get his tattoos removed was because he wanted to get serious with his acting career. The characters he often plays don’t have them and it usually takes makeup artists several hours to get them temporarily covered up. In a 2021 appearance on The Late Show with Seth Meyers, he said, “I honestly never thought that I would get an opportunity to act, and I love it a lot.”
In a recent interview with Variety, the Meet Cute actor shared a darker reason for his decision to get his tattoos removed, a process that is not only painful, but will take another 10 years. He said, “I used to be a drug addict, and I was a sad person, and I felt ugly and that I needed to be covered up. So, I’m just removing them and starting fresh, because that’s what I think works best for me and for my brain.”
He continued, “When I look in the mirror, I don’t want the reminder of ‘Oh yeah, you were a f—ing drug addict. Like, that’s why you have SpongeBob smoking a joint on your back.’ They should have meaning. Not just that I was high watching Game of Thrones.”
The comedian did say he “[doesn’t] think there’s anything wrong with tattoos,” but for him, looking at them reminded him of his past self, “a sad person that was very unsure.”
Davidson, however, said in an interview with Jimmy Fallon that he will be keeping “maybe, like, two or three” tattoos even though he’s “trying to clean-slate it.” He did not say which of his tattoos he will keep (although we doubt it’s any of the tattoos he got for his exes, Kim Kardashian, Cazzie David, and Ariana Grande since he’s now in a new relationship and is very happy).
