Pete Davidson's dating life has been thrust into the spotlight since his relationship with Ariana Grande. As most comedians do, Davidson decided to turn their failed love life into some jokes for his new Netflix special, Pete Davidson: Alive From New York. Yet, his jabs at their romance didn't sit well with Ariana's fans.
Davidson starts off his commentary on Grande by touching on the backlash he received for making fun of then-congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw. "I did make that guy famous and a household name for no reason, right?" Davidson joked around the special's 32-minute mark. "I did what Ariana Grande did for me. Yes, I sucked his dick at SNL."
Davidson went on to claim that he wasn't going to joke about their relationship, but Grande downplayed their connection while also mentioning him in songs. "I wasn't gonna do jokes about this, but then my buddy told me, he's like, 'Yo, I've recently heard that Ariana said she had no idea who you were and she just dated you as a distraction.' So now I just think it's fair game," he continued. "Also, don't applaud, this isn't like a Drake vs. Lil Wayne concert. This isn't a competition. She has songs and stuff and this is what I have. That's it."
He also addresses the critics that will claim his jokes about her aren't "fair" because he's doing it on a global streaming platform. But to him, the playing field is even because Grande said these things in the media.
"And you’re like, 'Pete, this isn’t fair.' You're like, 'You're airing out dirty laundry. How could you do that? Where did she say this stuff? To her friends, in the confidence of her own home?' No, she said it on the cover of Vogue magazine," he joked. "Can you imagine if I did that? My career would be over tomorrow. If I spray-painted myself brown and hopped on the cover of Vogue magazine and just started shitting on my ex. Can you imagine if I was like 'Yeah, I was just fucking her because I was bored, then Fortnite came out.'"
In the August issue of Vogue, Grande said Davidson was "an amazing distraction."
"It was frivolous and fun and insane and highly unrealistic, and I loved him, and I didn’t know him," Grande said. "I’m like an infant when it comes to real life and this old soul, been-around-the-block-a-million-times artist. I still don’t trust myself with the life stuff."
Grande and Davidson went public with their relationship in May 2018. That same year in October, the two parted ways, calling off their engagement. Following their breakup, Grande released her single "Thank U, Next" where she alluded to her exes, including Davidson.
"Then that song came out," Davidson said in reference to the single. "And [my friends] were like, 'Bro, I love you. I love you. Shit's catchy, bro. Shit is very catchy. You're going to have a rough eight months.'"
Once these jokes started to settle in, Grande's fans took to the social media here they attacked Davidson for commenting on his breakup with the singer.
Davidson addressed these potential trolls in his special by reiterating that his comments are just jokes.
"Again, these are jokes," he said. "My biggest fear is I'm gonna get shot in the back of the head by, like, a 9-year-old with a ponytail, and the last thing I’m gonna hear is, 'hashtag CANCELED.'"
