Pete Davidson is opening up about the inspiration behind one of his most “humiliating” tattoos.
The former “Saturday Night Live” star, 31, who has been undergoing laser treatments to remove his 100+ tattoos from his body since 2020, shared why he regretted a particular bit of ink during a July 28 appearance on “Hot Ones.”
“I’ve never admitted this because it’s so humiliating,” said Davidson. “But when I was like 20 at a comedy club — it might have been the Knitting Factory when Hannibal Buress used to run it — and I did a set. I was like 19 or 20, and (Dave) Chappelle was in the corner.”
After his performance, Davidson spoke with Chappelle, whom he described as his comedy “idol.”
“I got off stage and (Chappelle) was like, ‘I watched your whole set. It was really good.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, thanks. How do you keep coming up with new stuff? I’m working on new stuff and it’s difficult,’” he continued.
“And (Chappellle) goes, ‘Jokes come and go, but swag is forever.'” Davidson recalled, adding, “And guess who got that tattooed on his chest?”
Davidson, who is expecting his first child with girlfriend Elsie Hewitt, went on to say that the tattoo was so big, it spread across “his whole chest.” He later decided to cover it up with an image of the shark from “Jaws.”
“I needed something huge to black it out. So I just put a giant shark over it,” he said, laughing.
“That’s pretty bad, dude. But he was like my idol — he still is. But that’s so dumb,” he said. “I could’ve just told people he said that to me. Also, when you see that, you think I thought of it.”
Earlier this year, Davidson showed off his newly ink-less skin when he posed for photos for clothing brand Reformation.
During a Jan. 31 visit to TODAY, the comedian opened up about the important life moment that led to his decision to get the tattoos removed.
“I got sober and I saw myself in the mirror, and I was like, ‘Nah,” he said. “I was like, ‘I need to change it up a little bit.'”
