Pete Davidson Reflects on Facing Ye’s Wrath 4 Years After Kim Kardashian Romance: ‘He Did Push Me’

Pete Davidson thought he knew what he was signing up for when he started dating Kim Kardashian — the reality TV cameras, the paparazzi, the hordes of fans that follow her family’s every move — but nothing could’ve prepared him for the explosive reaction their relationship would get from the mogul’s ex-husband Ye (formerly Kanye West).

Back in 2022, the rapper posted numerous incendiary statements on social media threatening the comedian — whom he nicknamed “Skete” — as well as created a music video for his song “Eazy” that depicted Davidson’s decapitation. Four years later, in a new Variety cover story published Wednesday (Sept. 30), the Saturday Night Live alum looks back on that time period, revealing that he actually has a lot of empathy for the hip-hop titan despite everything that went down.

“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 notion that his being half-Jewish is the reason why Ye went on to exhibit shockingly antisemitic behavior in the years that followed.

“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 father, a firefighter, 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.”

However, Davidson did say that it “tripped [him] out” that his past openness about struggling with mental health issues didn’t stop Ye from repeatedly targeting him online. “It’s like he was [saying], ‘Kill yourself,'” the comedian said. “And he did push me.”

As for his nine-month relationship with the Skims founder, which ended around August 2022, Davidson — who was Kardashian’s first public relationship after filing for divorce from the Yeezy mogul in 2021 — added that he thinks his presence in her life may have had a silver lining when it comes to Ye. “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.”