Pete Davidson Shows Off Tattoo Removal Transformation in Shirtless Pic
Pete Davidson Reveals Where He Stands With Exes Ariana Grande, Kim Kardashian
Pete Davidson is continuing to prove he’s the king of removing his ink.
The Saturday Night Live alum shared an update of his years-long tattoo removal journey, revealing a glimpse of his progress in a shirtless photo.
In the shot—which was featured in an Oct. 20 Instagram carousel shared by his pal Machine Gun Kelly—Davidson smoked a cigarette as he lounged on a chair wearing only a pair of basketball shorts and socks.
Since he was sans shirt, the King of Staten Island alum’s arms and hands were on full display, revealing them to be almost completely bare, aside from remnants and outlines of nearly lasered off ink and a still somewhat prominent tattoo on his inner right bicep.
But that wasn’t all the photo confirmed as Davidson—dad to daughter Scottie, 10 months, with ex Elsie Hewitt—has made notable progress on moving his numerous chest tattoos.
After all, the 32-year-old’s two large pectoral muscle tattoos—illustrations of a skull and a shark from Jaws—are significantly faded, as are most of the smaller designs he previously had on his upper chest and neck. In fact, several appear to be almost non-existent.
It’s been over six years since Davidson first began the process of removing his estimated 200 tattoos.
While he’s lasered off a notable number of his designs, the How to Rob a Bank actor did recently add some new art for a very special reason.
Indeed, Davidson showed off fresh ink while appearing at CinemaCon in April, revealing a new tattoo by his left ear that vertically spells out “Scottie” after his baby girl, born in December 2025.
Along with the sweet nod to his daughter, the comedian previously shared that there is body art that he doesn’t plan to get removed: those dedicated to his parents.
“I got all these tattoos, so my mom was like, ‘How come you’ve never gotten a ‘Mom’ tattoo?’” Davidson told Entertainment Tonight in October 2025. “Now I have a tattoo that just says ‘MOMTATTOO.’ That one has to stay.”
Instagram/Machine Gun Kelly
As for his late father Scott Davidson, a firefighter who died during the September 11 attacks in New York City, Davidson has his dad’s ID number inked on his body.
And while the Bodies Bodies Bodies actor won’t be parting with some ink, the removal process hasn’t been a walk in the park.
“It’s pretty horrible,” Davidson told Variety in 2025. “It’s like putting your arm on a grill and burning off a layer, and then you gotta do maintenance and let it heal properly. And it’s pretty tough. It sucks, I’m not gonna lie.”
As Davidson’s 10-year removal journey continues, read to see more stars who have showed off their ink…
prideofgypsies / Instagram
Jason Momoa
After shaving off some of his hair, the Aquaman star revealed a new head tattoo in September 2022 that he said has been "20 years in the making."
JoJo Siwa/Instagram
JoJo Siwa
The "Karma" singer unveiled a bicep tattoo of a teddy bear with angel wings in June 2024. The design was a nod to the cover art of her Guilty Pleasure album.
Elle King/Instagram
Elle King
In April 2024, the "Ex's and Oh's" singer debuted a new tattoo—located on her rear—that paid tribute to some very important men in her life.
"I always said I'd get my baby daddys name tattooed on my butt…so I did," Elle, who is the daughter of Rob Schneider, wrote on Instagram. "I got 'brethren' for the men helping me raise my son. I love you guys so much, I wouldn't want to do life without yall."
Instagram/Grimes
Grimes
The "Genesis" singer unveiled her large face tattoo in October 2022, sharing that she spent 10 years "emotionally working up" to it.
Instagram/Travis Barker
Travis Barker
The Blink-182 drummer got a tattoo reading "Time Flies" in August 2023 after taking his 30th flight since surviving his 2008 plane crash.
Taylor Lautner & Tay Lautner
In March 2023, the Twilight actor and his wife got matching tattoos honoring their wedding date.
Amanza Smith
The Selling Sunset star debuted a face tattoo, which read "invincible" in script and sits beneath her jawline, in April 2022.
Instagram / Shawn Mendes
Shawn Mendes
The "Stitches" singer debuted a tattoo on the back of his neck in March 2022.
Maisie Williams
After filming Game of Thrones' final season, the actress added some symbolic ink to her tattoo collection in loving memory of her character Arya Stark.
Emilia Clarke
Forever MOD! The Game Of Thrones star permanently inked a dragon tattoo on her wrist after wrapping the final season of the show.
Joe Jonas & Sophie Turner
While celebrating their engagement in 2018, the Jonas Brothers singer and the Game of Thrones alum got matching Toy Story tattoos. The pair broke up in 2023 after four years of marriage.
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