Comedian and actor Pete Davidson is getting candid about the personal transformation that led him to begin the painful process of removing his more than 100 tattoos.
In an appearance on TODAY on Jan. 31, the 31-year-old opened up about how sobriety prompted a shift in perspective that made him reconsider the body art he had accumulated over the years.
“I got sober and I saw myself in the mirror, and I was like, ‘Nah,’” Davidson said. “I was like, I need to change it up a little bit.”
The former Saturday Night Live cast member has been undergoing laser tattoo removal since 2020, a process he confirmed during a Q&A session for his film The King of Staten Island. Film critic Mike McGranaghan first shared the news at the time on X (formerly Twitter), and Davidson later confirmed it during a May 2021 interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Davidson, who once had his body covered in tattoos—including designs featuring Winnie the Pooh and Hillary Clinton—said the decision was also tied to his evolving acting career. “I honestly never thought that I would get the opportunity to act, and I love it a lot,” he told Meyers. “You have to get there three hours earlier to cover all your tattoos, because for some reason, people in movies, they don’t have that much.”
During his latest TODAY appearance, Davidson rolled up his sleeve to show his fading tattoos, drawing surprise from host Savannah Guthrie. “Wow. It really is,” she remarked.
Asked about the experience of tattoo removal, Davidson didn’t mince words: “It feels pretty terrible,” he said. He offered a warning to viewers considering getting inked: “So, if anybody is out there watching and thinking about getting a tattoo, just make sure you really want to get it.”
In a 2021 interview with People TV, Davidson revealed he was optimistic that the removal process would be completed by the time he turned 30. “They said by the time I’m 30, they should all be gone,” he said. “So they got, like, two more years left of this.”
Now 31, Davidson’s ongoing tattoo removal reflects both a personal and professional shift—one that underscores his desire for reinvention as he continues to evolve beyond his past image and into new creative territory.
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