Pete Davidson isn’t in love with all the ink on his body, body, body.
Nearly five years into his six-figure tattoo removal journey, the Saturday Night Live alum revealed the backstory behind one of his least favorite tattoos.
“I’ve never admitted this because it’s so humiliating,” Pete told Sean Evans during his July 28 appearance on Hot Ones. “But when I was like 20 at a comedy club, it might have been the Knitting Factory when Hannibal Buress used to run it, I did a set. I was like 19 or 20, and [Dave] Chappelle was in the corner.”
The 31-year-old—who previously had over 200 tattoos—noted he was stunned to see Chappelle, as this was before he announced his return to comedy in 2014.
“I got off stage and he 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 he goes, ‘Jokes come and go, but swag is forever.’ And guess who got that tattooed on his chest?”
Indeed, the Bupkis actor got the inspirational mantra on the upper left side of his chest. However, the ink didn’t last long, as he later replaced the tattoo with an even larger photo of another pop culture icon.
“I covered it with Jaws because I needed something huge to black it out,” he joked. “It was pretty bad, dude. But he was like my idol—he still is, but…that’s so dumb. I could’ve just told people he said that to me. Also, when you see that, you think I thought of it.”
Pete didn’t reveal if he would laser off his shark ink in the future, but he’s certainly been removing his notable collection in sections. In fact, the comedian started working on his torso last March—and the process sounds grueling.
“They burn off your skin and then you’ve got to do it 10 more times,” he explained to Page Six that month. “They just put me to sleep which is kind of nice but if it’s just the arm, I try to listen to stuff or talk to the nurse.”
Keep reading to see more celebrities flaunting their tattoos…
Jason Momoa
After shaving off some of his hair, the Aquaman star revealed a new head tattoo in September 2022 that he said has been "20 years in the making."
JoJo Siwa
The "Karma" singer unveiled a bicep tattoo of a teddy bear with angel wings in June 2024. The design was a nod to the cover art of her Guilty Pleasure album.
Elle King
In April 2024, the "Ex's and Oh's" singer debuted a new tattoo—located on her rear—that paid tribute to some very important men in her life.
"I always said I'd get my baby daddys name tattooed on my butt…so I did," Elle, who is the daughter of Rob Schneider, wrote on Instagram. "I got 'brethren' for the men helping me raise my son. I love you guys so much, I wouldn't want to do life without yall."
Grimes
The "Genesis" singer unveiled her large face tattoo in October 2022, sharing that she spent 10 years "emotionally working up" to it.
Travis Barker
The Blink-182 drummer got a tattoo reading "Time Flies" in August 2023 after taking his 30th flight since surviving his 2008 plane crash.
Taylor Lautner & Tay Lautner
In March 2023, the Twilight actor and his wife got matching tattoos honoring their wedding date.
Amanza Smith
The Selling Sunset star debuted a face tattoo, which read "invincible" in script and sits beneath her jawline, in April 2022.
Shawn Mendes
The "Stitches" singer debuted a tattoo on the back of his neck in March 2022.
Maisie Williams
After filming Game of Thrones' final season, the actress added some symbolic ink to her tattoo collection in loving memory of her character Arya Stark.
Emilia Clarke
Forever MOD! The Game Of Thrones star permanently inked a dragon tattoo on her wrist after wrapping the final season of the show.
Joe Jonas & Sophie Turner
While celebrating their engagement in 2018, the Jonas Brothers singer and the Game of Thrones alum got matching Toy Story tattoos. They pair broke up in 2023 after four years of marriage.