With reportedly more than 70 tattoos on his body, Pete Davidson is known for all of his different styles of ink. However, according to the comedian, he is in the midst of getting all of them removed.
The Saturday Night Live star, 28, discussed his tattoo removal during an interview with People TV last July, during which he noted that he wanted all of them “gone” by the time he was 30.
“I get my next treatment [in] like a month or so,” he said at the time. “They said by the time I’m 30, they should all be gone. So they got like two more years left of this.”
Over the years, Davidson has racked up quite the collection. From Hillary Clinton’s face on his leg to the word “KIM” now branded on his chest, dedicated to girlfriend Kim Kardashian, there are different meanings behind them all. Here’s a rundown of all of the comedian’s small, large, and most iconic tattoos.
Tattoos dedicated to Kim Kardashian
During a recent appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Kardashian revealed that Davidson has “a few tattoos” in honour of her and their relationship. In fact, she revealed that Davidson even had his chest branded with the word “KIM”.
“It’s actually a branding,” she said. “He wanted to do something that was really different.”
“I think he was like: ‘I want something that’s there that I can’t, you know, get rid of my tattoos’ cause he’s in the process of getting rid of his arm tats and his neck tats,” she continued.
According to the reality star, Davidson also has a tattoo on his collarbone that reads: “my girl is a lawyer.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg on his right shoulder
Back in 2018, Davidson performed a rap on SNL with Chris Reed and Kate McKinnon about Ruth Bader Gisburg, who passed away in September 2020 due complications from pancreatic cancer.
Days after the sketch premiered, Davidson got a tattoo of Ginsburg wearing a crown on his shoulder. “The Notorious RBG,” tattoo artist Jon Mesa wrote on Instagram, along with a photo of the ink on Davidson.
Hillary Clinton on his right leg
While speaking to Variety in 2018, Davidson revealed that he got a tattoo of Clinton in 2016, shortly after she lost the presidential election.
“I got the tattoo after she lost the election because she’s such a cool person,” he said. “I didn’t do it like one of those Super Bowl guys that are like ‘The Eagles! We’re gonna win!’ She’s just, like, dope. She’s just a dope person.”
It appears that Clinton approves of the tattoo, as she took the opportunity to address the ink on Davidson’s Instagram, where she jokingly commented: “Thanks, @petedavidson. This makes it significantly less awkward that I’ve had a Pete Davidson tattoo for years.”
More recently, Kardashian’s estranged ex-husband Kanye West attacked Davidson’s tattoo of Clinton in an Instagram post, where he wrote: “Tramp Stamp Pete the Tramp… here’s the stamp.”
Tattoos in honour of his dad
Davidson has multiple tattoos in tribute to his father, Scott Davidson, a firefighter who died during the 11 September terrorist attacks.
On his left arm, Davidson has a tattoo of a firefighter kneeling and one of his father’s badge number “8418.” He has a tattoo of his father’s initials, “SMD” on his right arm. He also has a firefighter helmet under the badge number, which is assumed to be another dedication to his father.
In his semi-autobiographical film Staten Island, the death of Davidson’s father is largely featured, as the comedian, who lost his father when he was seven, discusses the challenges of his childhood grief.
Other tattoos on his body
Davidson fans have also identified a few other favourites from the comedian’s extensive collection of tattoos, such as the large tattoo of a unicorn he got back in 2019 on his right bicep.
In one of the scenes from the 2019 film Big Time Adolescence, Machine Gun Kelly’s character gives Davidson’s character a tattoo on his leg that says “Zeke.” And according to Davidson, it was actually real. “He actually killed it,” he told The Hollywood Reporter about the singer’s tattoo work.
Many of Davidson’s tattoos are also references to different movies and books, such as quotes from the Harry Potter franchise, the 2016 film Rocky Balboa, and the 1982 film The King of Comedy.
He also had tattoos dedicated to ex-fiancée Ariana Grande, most of which have now been covered, but which included a tattoo of the bunny ears that the singer wore on the cover of her album, Dangerous Woman, behind his ear. The symbol was later covered with a black heart.
Although he’s in the midst of saying goodbye to many of his tattoos, it appears that Davidson is still getting new ink to represent significant moments in his life.
