Variety’s Power of Young Hollywood features three different covers: Amandla Stenberg, Shawn Mendes and Pete Davidson. So far Pete’s interview is getting the most coverage because people are interested in his whirlwind high-profile relationship with Ariana Grande. He knows this, and he talks about it in this piece. Pete is good at being quotable and he opens up a lot in this interview. He’s discusses his struggles with mental health, which is something he’s been open about for years, and shares details of a suicide attempt at a young age and how he treats his bipolar disorder now. He even talks about the BDE meme and how flattered he is by it. Of course he is. Pete repeats the story that he’s already told, that he proposed to Ariana Grande when they were in bed. He expects her to kick him to the curb at any time, which is something he’s said before too.
On proposing to Ariana and expecting her to come to her senses
“I didn’t want to do something corny. We were in bed hanging, after watching a movie. I was like, ‘Will you marry me?’ It was really dope. I’m still convinced she’s blind or hit her head really hard,” he says, laughing. “Something is going to happen, and she’s going to be like, ‘What the f— is this thing doing around?’ For right now, it’s rocking.”
On his mental health
“The last few years have been real rough with me. I took all these mental health classes and really spent a lot of time getting me good.”
On attempting suicide when he was young
“I’ve been in and out of mental health facilities since I was 9. I tried to drown myself in the pool when I was in the fourth or fifth grade. I was trying to get my head stuck in the ladder in the deep end, so I would not be able to get up. But I’m too much of a p-sy, and my head is too small.”
On Trump hosting SNL in late 2015; Davidson’s sketches were cut
“It wasn’t the most fun week eve. He doesn’t get jokes. He doesn’t get tone. He doesn’t get punch lines. He’ll say words differently. He’s just a dweeb.
vDude, any president that is taking pictures of himself on a private plane eating Kentucky Fried Chicken is a f—ing psycho. What are you? A f—ing Kardashian?”
On his dad’s death influencing him to becoming a comic
“If my dad didn’t die, I wouldn’t be a comic. I’d be a construction worker in Staten Island or a basketball coach.
“I learned what death was. And you’re not really supposed to learn about that until high school, when one of your friends falls asleep in the garage, or whatever. To learn how anything can just be taken away from you early gave me this sense of ‘F— it. Whatever, dude.’ I’m able to do stand-up and f— around because hopefully the worst thing that has ever happened to me happened.”
He compares going online to getting a skin infection
“It’s like popping a pimple. You’re like, ‘This is going to be sick.’ Then you do it, and you have to go to the dermatologist and get a cortisone shot, and there’s going to be a big hole in my face for a week.”
On the BDE meme
“I don’t hate it. I’m just really, really happy, and if that means I have [BDE], then sick. My favorite thing was my mom was like, ‘Peter, they’re saying you had a big p-nis just like your father.’”
On being in love with Ariana
“I never thought I’d meet anyone like her. I can’t even put into words how great of a person she is. I could cry. She’s the f—ing coolest, hottest, nicest person I’ve ever met.”
“I’m f—ing living the goddamn dream. I feel like I’m living in a fantasyland.”
The piece noted that Pete is smoking pot again after going to rehab twice for it. I think pot should be available medicinally nationwide and considering that Pete has Crohn’s disease I’m inclined to give him a pass. (Here’s more on the research about cannibis as a treatment for Crohn’s. Pete does tell the Variety journalist that he began smoking for relief.) As for his thoughts on Ariana, this is what we’ve heard from him since they got together and got engaged almost immediately. They’re both crazy about each other, which is cute to watch but what happens when the infatuation phase wears off and they’re faced with reality? I would bet it lasts for Pete longer than it does for his girlfriends typically. Maybe that’s why he keeps expecting Ariana to kick him out.
photos credit: WENN, Getty
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