Pete Davidson Says He Doesn’t Want to Be Seen as 'This F---ing Loser Who Just Dates People': 'Not Who I Am'

Mar. 15, 2025

Pete Davidson attends Paramount’s “Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts” New York Premiere at Kings Theatre on June 5, 2023 in New York City.Photo:Jamie McCarthy/WireImage

Jamie McCarthy/WireImage

Pete Davidsonis ready to change the public’s perception of him.

TheSaturday Night Livealum, 31, reflected on the lessons he’s learned from his relationships becoming headline news over the years.

“I got hit on the face with the Hollywood shovel,” he toldW Magazine.  “It was a long time coming, and I needed it. I’m very happy where I am right now, mentally."

“I just want to be known for doing good work,” he added. “I want to be out there only when it’s [a] movie, stand-up, charity, or business ventures. That’s when I want to be seen. I don’t want to be this f—ing loser who just dates people. That’s not who I am.”

Pete Davidson during an interview on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ on Tuesday, October 10, 2023.Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images

Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images

The comedian — who has beenromantically linkedtoMadelyn Cline,Kate Beckinsale,Kim KardashianandAriana Grande, among other stars — also discussed how he became “oversaturated” in the spotlight.

“InThe Sopranos, there’s this line from Tony that’s like, ‘You ever feel like you got into something at the end? When the good times were over?’” theBupkisstar explained. “That’s how I feel about show business and being a celebrity. It’s over.”

“When you’re first coming up, and getting all these offers, it’s hard to say no, because you’re hungry,” he continued. “I made the mistake of doing literally everything. Now I’m older and wiser, and I’m realizing that less is more. Like Christian Bale. He does one movie every two, three years, but you go f—ing see it. Leo[nardo DiCaprio] does one movie every four years, but it’s the biggest thing in the world.”

“It’s because you miss them. People have to miss you,” he hypothesized.

Davidson previously opened up about the fascination around his dating life in  a conversation withJon BerthnalforThe Walking Deadalum’sReal Onespodcast.

He added: “I don’t think that’s that crazy, but to some people, that’s very interesting. That became all anyone would talk about."

He went to explain that his relationships have come about organically, explaining, “I’m not, like, flexing, you know what I mean? And these people that I’ve dated, I met them at work.”

From left: Pete Davidson and Colin Jost during Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” in Studio 8H on Saturday, November 18, 2017.Will Heath/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Will Heath/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

“I wasn’t in anyone’s DMs, no one was in mine,” he said. “I worked at one of the five Hollywood epicenters of where you meet people and that’s how it happened.”

“Suddenly you’re in this zeitgeist and that has nothing to do with the work,” he added. “And that’s a really s—ty feeling. I became more known before the work was there, but I was always working.”

He noted thatSaturday Night Live —on which he was a cast member from 2014 to 2022 — often poking fun at his relationships hit especially close to home.

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“When your own show [pokes fun at you],” he shared. “I’d be sitting in the back watching the cold open and — the cold open [is] topical, political humor, whatever’s in the culture. And then, making fun of you. Then you’ve gotta walk out and do a sketch next and hit your mark and the show just made fun of you. So, why are they gonna laugh at you? Like, they just dogged you in front of everyone. … And you’re like, ‘I’m a f—ing loser, man.'”

He continued, “These are the people I’ve been with for almost a decade. I grew up in front of these people. They’ve watched me through the most difficult time in my life, and they’ve been there for me. And nobody ever showed more leeway and grace to me thanLorne Michaels, and I owe my life to that guy, but it was f—ing confusing ‘cause the nature of entertainment is the nature of this business. At the end of the day, that’s what it is. This was a really difficult thing to do. You feel small. You feel super insecure.”

source: people.com