Kanye West‘s absence from social media has been a huge relief for his ex-wife Kim Kardashian‘s new boyfriend Pete Davidson. The Staten Island native, 28, has been the target of many of Ye’s posts thanks to the rapper’s non-stop tirades — but a source tells HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that Pete asked his bosses at Saturday Night Live “not to lean into any of that.” Beyond the many posts, Kanye also buried a cartoon version of Pete alive in his latest “Eazy” music video.
Pete has had multiple talks with the show’s creator, Lorne Michaels, 77, per our source, and pleaded with him to not roast Kanye. “SNL has had skits and jokes for and about Kanye for weeks and Pete has had talks with Lorne throughout,” the insider said, adding, “Pete asked that they not lean into any of that and Lorne promised that they wouldn’t put him in a position where he would have to explain himself, or get in trouble with Kim, Kanye, the family and everywhere in between.”
Those who follow the Kanye vs. Pete saga have been expecting Pete to diss Ye publicly, but for the most part, the comedian has stayed quiet. Pete did, however, leak a text message conversation between himself and Ye, which was posted by his close friend Dave Sirus. In the texts, Pete asked Ye to have a conversation man-to-man to settle any drama between the two. Earlier in the day, Kanye said that he felt “antagonized” by Pete’s texts due to a photo that the King Of Staten Island star sent him allegedly in bed with Kim.
Pete started dating Kim after she appeared as a guest host on the show in October 2021 — which included an on-screen kiss during an Aladdin inspired sketch. Since then, the two have gotten quite serious and on April 5, Pete was photographed driving around the gated Kardashian-Jenner neighborhood with Kim’s daughter North West, 8. “Pete is in love with Kim and respects her in such a way that he wouldn’t want the show or himself to make fun of the father of her children,” the source told us. “It is important to him that she knows that and it is because of the relationship that Lorne and Pete have, and the respect they both have for each other, that there will be no Kanye jokes at all on SNL.”
Pete’s new way of dealing with the situation is a stark contrast to how he dealt with Ye in the past. Prior to dating Kim, in 2018, Kanye appeared as a guest host on SNL and caused quite a stir by using the time to express his anti-Democratic political views. After his appearance, Pete did not hold back and used the ‘Weekend Update’ segment of the show to slam Ye. This would come back to haunt Pete recently after things got serious with Kim. Picking only what he wanted from the 2018 skit, in a since-deleted Instagram post, Kanye accused Pete of making fun of his mental health. Although Kanye’s post is no longer on his Instagram, which has been completely gutted of all posts, Kanye posted a screengrab from Pete’s original SNL skit back in February 2022. In the caption, he wrote, “HI SKETE YOU GOT ANY MORE MENTAL HEALTH JOKES FOR ME?”
HollywoodLife has reached out to reps for all of the parties involved and has not heard back.