NEWSPete Davidson Defends Kanye West Following Rapper's Antisemitic Rants and Interference in Kim Kardashian Romance: 'Zero Way He Really Feels Like That'
Pete Davidson opened up about ex-girlfriend Kim Kardashian and Kanye West in a new interview.
Sept. 30 2026, Published 1:48 p.m. ET
Pete Davidson has come to the defense of Kanye West after the rapper unleashed several of his antisemitic rants in recent years.
The Saturday Night Live alum — who is half-Jewish himself — opened up about the Chicago native's controversial tirades in a new interview.
Pete Davidson Said Kanye West Is Dealing With 'Mental Stuff'
Pete Davidson came to the defense of Kanye West in a new profile for 'Variety.'
“What people don’t understand about that dude — and I’m not one-one-millionth as talented or influential or powerful as that dude, but I have dealt with a fraction of what he’s had to deal with public-wise — is that’ll do it," Davidson, 32, told Variety in a wide-ranging profile shared on Wednesday, September 30.
"He’s also lost a parent and has mental stuff, and I don’t know how he deals with it or who he has around him," Davidson continued, referring to West's mother, Donda, who died in 2007 at the age of 58.
Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson Dated From 2021 Until 2022
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were married from 2014 until 2022.
Davidson — who also dated West's ex Kim Kardashian — went on to note that "probably a lot of people want to be his friend."
"I’ve had that. When people are so far up your a-- and constantly pushing and provoking you and not showing you love, you want to burn it all," the comedian said.
"I think it got to a certain point where he was like, ‘Leave me the f--- alone. I’m just going to say crazy s---.’ There’s zero way he really feels like that," the King of Staten Island star said.
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'He’s also lost a parent and has mental stuff, and I don’t know how he deals with it or who he has around him,' Pete Davidson said about Kanye West.
West, 49, and Kardashian, 45, tied the knot in 2014 and split in February 2021. Davidson and the reality TV star then dated from November 2021 to August 2022.
Elsewhere in his interview, the Bupkis star joked he did the SKIMS founder a favor by taking the brunt of West's criticisms.
“I like to think I got that one out of the way for her because whoever that guy was going to be was gonna get it,” he said. “I cleared the path for her to get back into the dating pool.”
Kanye West Frequently Targeted Pete Davidson During His Relationship With Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson dated from November 2021 until August 2022.
While Kardashian and Davidson were an item, West frequently targeted the funnyman via his song lyrics and on social media.
In his 2022 song "Eazy," West rapped he wanted to "beat Pete Davidson's a--," and sung about his breakup with Kardashian, crooning: "We havin' the best divorce ever/If we go to court, we'll go to court together."
The "Love Lockdown" rapper also caused controversy in recent years with his antisemitic statements, with him even releasing a song titled “Heil Hitler” in May 2025.
