Pete Davidson is embracing a clean slate.
Amid the Saturday Night Live alum’s ongoing process of getting nearly 200 tattoos removed, he has established himself as the “Official Boyfriend of Reformation” in the brand’s new campaign.
As part of the campaign, the 31-year-old embraced his newly tattoo-free skin in a shirtless pic. But while his upper body was void of ink in the photos, getting to this point wasn’t easy—or painless—in the slightest. In fact, he recently revealed some of the gruesome details behind the lengthy process.
"They gotta burn off a layer of your skin and then it has to heal for, like, six to eight weeks and you can't get in the sunlight," Pete told Jimmy Fallon as he pushed up his sleeves on a recent episode of The Tonight Show. "And then you gotta do it, like, 12 more times."
The comedian went on to express that the removal process has been “worse” than getting the tattoos in the first place. In fact, he wouldn’t wish it upon his worst enemy.
“Really think about that Game of Thrones tattoo you're thinking of getting,” he said, turning to the audience. “Really think about it."
And when he thought back to why he got each of his tattoos in the first place, it came down to what seemed to be trending in the moment. “It was a weird time,” he noted. "I don't know, everybody was getting tattoos, like, five years ago.”
Looking forward to the end of the painstaking removal process, Pete shared that his goal is to simply return to a clean slate.
"When I'm 40, it'll all be gone," he told Seth Myers on a recent episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, "like the chest and back."
And, with each tattoo requiring a minimum of seven visits to remove, Pete added that it has been a dreadfully drawn-out process.
"If it's black and white, it's a little easier," he explained. "But if it's a color tattoo, it takes forever."
As for which of his tattoos he regrets the most? The answer was “all of them.”
"I made a lot of those decisions before rehab, so I have the dumbest tattoos," Pete recalled. "I got a collection of cartoons smoking blunts like a Muppet smoking a blunt, the Tootsie Pop owl smoking a blunt."
But beyond the questionable imagery he chose, Pete previously admitted that his tattoos also made pursuing his passion for acting a bit more difficult.
"I honestly never thought that I would get an opportunity to act, and I love it a lot," he told Seth in 2021, noting that many of his on-screen roles had previously required him to up to three hours getting his tattoos covered up by makeup. "For some reason, people in movies, they don't have [tattoos] that much."
While Pete works on removing all of his, keep reading for other stars’ unique 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.