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Back in 2020, Pete Davidson announced that he had begun the long process of removing almost all of his tattoos. He had over 100 of them and it would take more than three hours in the makeup chair to cover them all up. At one point, he even had a tattoo artist as a part of his entourage and you can tell he took advantage of that. While there were definitely some sweet, meaningful ones, like tributes to his late father, who passed away on 9/11, and already-removed nods to former girlfriends like Kim Kardashian (ugh, that shoulder brand) and Ariana Grande, there were definitely a lot of seemingly super random ones, like the Mars Attacks alien and a giant shark.
Pete is currently promoting his latest movie, the animated Dogman, which is based on the popular graphic novel series. He plays Petey the Cat. He’s also going to be part of the SNL 50 three hour special that airs on February 16th. Pete recently stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers. Seth brought up his tattoo removal and Pete explained how it was done. He then shared that he wouldn’t miss them at all, especially because a lot of them were dumb and made before he got sober. And speaking of, according to Pete, his “dumbest” tattoos include a “collection of cartoons smoking blunts.”
Pete Davidson is happy to be saying goodbye to his “dumbest” tattoos. During a Thursday, Feb. 6 appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the Dog Man actor, 31, admitted that most of the designs on his body will not be missed as he works to have his tattoos removed.
“You also have sort of famously said that you’re gonna get rid of your tattoos, which is not an easy thing to do” the television show host, 51, said to his guest.
Davidson agreed, saying all his ink should be gone by the time he’s 40. In a 2021 interview with PEOPLE, the comedian said he hoped his tattoos would be gone before he hit 30.
“When I’m 40, it’ll all be gone,” the Saturday Night Live star said. “Like the chest and back.”
Meyers asked for more details on the removal process, noting that laser technicians “burn it off” over “seven visits” for each design.
“It’s at least seven visits,” Davidson clarified. “And if it’s black and white it’s a little easier. But if it’s a color tattoo, it takes forever.”
Next, Meyers asked if there were any tattoos that the Bodies Bodies Bodies actor was “happiest to not have to look at again.”
For Davidson, that was “all of them.”
“Well, I made a lot of those decisions before rehab,” he joked. “So I got the dumbest tattoos.”
If there had to be one in particular, Davidson said his “collection of cartoons smoking blunts” would have to take the cake.
His collection included “a Muppet smoking a blunt” and “the Tootsie Pop owl smoking a blunt.”
“Which is weird ‘cause I wasn’t even old enough to be around for that cartoon, that commercial,” Davidson told Meyers. “Yeah, it’s not great.”
Oh goodness, he had tattoos of both a Muppet and the Tootsie Pop owl smoking blunts? That is so funny. I could see how a stoned Pete would find cartoon characters with blunts to be a good idea, and it’s easy to indulge those impulses when you’re regularly rolling with a tattoo artist. That said, so many people get ink that they regret. Only, his regretful body art reportedly cost him around $200,000.
I love that Pete’s able to talk about his difficulties in a relatable way and also poke fun at himself for the sillier things, like unfortunate tattoo choices. It really is so nice to see Pete doing so well and hopefully living his best life. I’m rooting for him.
Photo note by CB: Pete was at the Super Bowl with… Kevin Costner? It’s unclear why he was seated next to Costner, but the were seen at a pregame party together on February 8th. Pete explained to Seth Meyers that he’s friends with The Philadelphia Eagles’ security head, Dom, and that he was definitely rooting for the Eagles. Good.