Inside Pete Davidson’s Drama and Controversy Timeline: From Trashing Trailer to Feuds With Kanye West

Pete Davidson With His Dad, Scott Davidson

Davidson lost his father, Scott Davidson, in the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11 when he was only 7 years old, and the loss greatly impacted his mental health. He opened up about his struggles after his dad’s death in an appearance on Jon Bernthal’s podcast “Real Ones” in March 2023.

“My dad told me he was going to pick me up from school on 9/11. I got picked up by my mom. She didn’t tell me what was going on for like three days,” the Bupkis star recalled.

Eventually, the actor was diagnosed with PTSD and began working with a trauma therapist to work through his struggles. Davidson added that his dad’s death resulted in his own abandonment issues.

“You know, Dad says he’s coming to pick you up and he doesn’t. For life, I’m like, I don’t believe anyone, and I’m trying to learn how to believe people — and Hollywood isn’t exactly the greatest place to learn that skill,” he said.

2017

After his first stint in rehab in December 2016, Davidson later revealed his borderline personality disorder diagnosis. This came on the heels of what the King of Staten Island star called his “mental breakdown,” and was partially what led to the comedian seeking help.

“I found out I have BPD, which is borderline personality disorder,” he said during an appearance on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast. “One of my psychiatrists [diagnosed me]. He was always saying before this big meltdown, ‘You’re probably bipolar or borderline, we’re just going to have to figure it out.'”

2020

Davidson returned to rehab in 2020, but the star never gave a specific reason behind the stay. He later revealed that he spent most of his time in the Sierra Tucson treatment center working on his comedy and in the “butt hut,” where he joined other patients during cigarette breaks.

2022

​Davidson’s feud with Kanye really took off in 2022, after Davidson began dating Kanye’s ex, Kim Kardashian. However, the two had beef before the comedian began dating Kim. In 2018, Davidson made fun of Kanye’s unaired rant from an episode of SNL where he talked about his support for Donald Trump, amongst other things, and called it “the worst, most awkward thing I’ve ever seen here” during the Weekend Update portion of the show.

When Kim and Davidson went public with their romance in November 2021, it sent the controversial rapper into a rage. In his song “Eazy,” which was released in January 2022, Kanye rapped, “God saved me from that crash / Just so I can beat Pete Davidson’s ass (Who?)”

In February 2022, Kanye posted a photo of a handwritten note to Kid Cudi that read, “Just so everyone knows Cudi will not be on Donda because he’s friends with you know who.” This was in reference to a dinner Davidson had with Kanye and Cudi. The “Power” rapper reposted the photo, this time with a red X drawn over Davidson’s face.

That same month, Kanye shared a text from Davidson that reportedly read, “And you as a man. I’d never get in the way of your children. It’s a promise. How you guys go about raising your children is your business not mine. I do hope one day I can meet them and we can all be friends.”

Kanye continued to rant about Davidson in various unhinged ways from his social media posts to a claymation reenactment of burying Davidson alive in the “Eazy” video. One week after Davidson reactivated his Instagram account, he deactivated it again due to Kanye’s fans flooding the comments and constantly referred to him as “Skete,” Kanye’s nickname for him.

A little less than a year after Davidson and Kim began dating, the two called it quits in August 2022. After they separated, Kanye’s anger toward Davidson seemed to fizzle out.

June 2023

In June 2023, Davidson reentered rehab and Page Six reported that he was “seeking in-patient therapy to address ongoing issues related to post-traumatic stress disorder and his previous diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.”

“Pete will often check himself into rehab to work on these issues. His friends and family have been supportive during this time,” a source revealed to People.

The decision to reenter rehab came weeks after Davidson crashed his car into a house in Los Angeles and was charged with reckless driving.

December 2023

In December 2023, a source exclusively revealed to In Touch that a lone paparazzi caused Davidson to trash his trailer on the set of the film Riff Raff after he had been stalking the comedian for some time. The crew on set was forced to restrain him and after he was relegated back to his trailer, he trashed it.

“He’s a good guy and everyone likes him,” the source revealed, who noted that Davidson smokes a lot of pot. “He’s obviously going through something right now and people are worried about him.”

Days before Davidson destroyed the trailer, the comedian canceled several upcoming shows that were to be held all the way into 2024. This included a show at the Beacon Theater in New York City being canceled just two hours before he was set to go on stage.

July 2024

Pete told the audience at his Pete Davidson: Rehab Tour in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on July 20, 2024, that there’s one drug he “can’t quit.”

“I can’t quit [weed] yet. It’s all I have left,” the comedian said, according to Daily Mail. “I did coke and ketamine and f–king all the pills and all that s–t. All I have is weed left, so it’s almost over, but I’m holding on for a little bit longer.”