Rise to Fame
His father, FDNY firefighter Scott Davidson, died on 9/11 when Pete was seven. He found out by turning on the TV and seeing his dad's photo on screen. That trauma is the engine underneath everything he's done since. SNL came at 20, making him the youngest cast member at the time and the first born in the 1990s. He didn't play it safe. His Weekend Update appearances mined his BPD diagnosis, suicidal ideation, and rehab stays in real time. The audience wasn't sure if he was performing or falling apart. Often, both.
In the Spotlight
By the time he started dating Kim Kardashian in late 2021, the tabloid noise around Pete Davidson had reached its peak, including an extended public feud with Kanye West. He's been in inpatient care eight times, most recently in 2024, and has reportedly been sober since that fall. In December 2025, he became a father, naming his daughter Scottie Rose after the dad he lost at seven. He's midway through removing roughly 200 tattoos at an estimated cost of $200,000, which tells you something about where he thinks his career is going.
Side Notes
His first stand-up set happened on a dare at a Staten Island bowling alley at 16. As a child, he was reportedly monitored by psychologists as part of a study on the effects of 9/11 on kids who lost parents. He has his father's FDNY badge number, 8418, tattooed on his left arm. During their engagement, Ariana Grande got the same number tattooed on her foot. The King of Staten Island (2020), co-written with Judd Apatow, was a direct memorial to his father and his most personal work by far.