Pete Davidson looks back at the early years of his career on SNL and his very public relationship with Ariana Grande. He reveals he was uncomfortable being sexualized and in the spotlight.
In an episode of The Breakfast Club on Wednesday, Aug. 13, Davidson told Charlamagne Tha God that he brought a lot of pop culture to SNL and made it a “tabloidly, trendy thing unintentionally.”
Despite his fame on the show and seeing success early in his career, he shared, “Also, I was embarrassed by it because… no one talked about any work I was doing. They were just like, ‘Oh, that’s the f— stick.’ And that hurt so much.”
His discomfort was noticeable to friends, family, and the SNL crew. Charlamagne expressed his confusion as Davidson was “banging a lot of hot chicks” and “had a 10-inch penis.”
But Davidson admits that on paper, it may sound great. Still, in reality, he wasn’t happy with being sexualized by the public and was uncomfortable, as he explains he’s not the most handsome Hollywood celebrity out there.
“It’s embarrassing, ’cause, you know… It’s Hollywood. Everybody f—- everyone.” He explained and added, “Why are they focusing on me?” Davidson thinks part of the viral aspect was because he’s “not Glen Powell handsome.”
“I don’t want to victimize myself in any way because I’m cool, but the sexualization of me — if that was a girl, people would be like, there would be a march for it… Seriously. You’re just talking about my d— all day,” said Davidson.
When asked how the “big d*** energy” started, Davidson explains, “Uh it was I think it was like the New York Times or something when I started dating someone that I guess they considered out of my league, which I think everyone is out of my league, but you know, uh they were like, ‘This guy must have big d— energy.’ And then someone confirmed it.”
That someone might have been Grande.
At the time in 2018, Davidson was publicly dating Grande, who had answered a fan question on X about the length of the “Sweetner” interlude she dedicated to Davidson. She joked, “Like 10 inches?” before realizing what the fan was asking.
Davidson admits that having his personal life so in the spotlight makes relationships challenging and changes how people see his career.
“Like not to be like lame, but like it’s traumatic to live in your own crap all the time,” he said.
The actor and comedian is currently expecting his first child with Elsie Hewitt.
