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Comedian Pete Davidson is just like us. Well, kind of.
During his younger years, he plastered himself with tattoos, many of which he now regrets. Hands up if you can relate.
His first ink was at 17 years old — a leg tattoo reading ‘Swerve Life,’ a lyric inspired by Kanye West’s 2012 track ‘Mercy.’ Awkward now to think he briefly dated the rapper’s ex, Kim Kardashian, between 2021 and 2022.
But we digress.
The now 32-year-old continued to cover his body with tattoos over the years, adding a huge shark to his chest, his surname on his ribs, and Winnie the Pooh holding a balloon, to name a few.
He even added some Kim-related tatts to his collection, including ‘My girl is a lawyer,’ honouring her pursuit of a law degree, a chest branding, and Aladdin and Jasmine with an infinity symbol, commemorating their first kiss on Saturday Night Live.
Again, we digress.
Like many of us (myself included), Pete is now on a laser removal journey in pursuit of a blank canvas. Since 2020, he’s spent a whopping $200,000 (£148,858) on the process, and is now almost ink-free.
Although, he has added a couple more during this time, most notably a tribute to his young daughter, Scottie, whom he welcomed with then-girlfriend Elsie Hewitt in December 2025.
However, during a recent interview with E! News at the How To Rob a Bank premiere in New York City on Tuesday, Pete described the removal process as ‘brutal.’
‘You don’t know what’s going on under there,’ he joked, referring to the stages the skin undergoes between procedures, adding that he’s only worn jumpers for the last six months.
This isn’t the first time Pete has opened up about getting his tattoos removed, though. Back in 2025, he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he confessed he was ‘trying to clean-slate it.’
Describing his tattoos as ‘almost gone,’ Pete told the host that he’s been ‘burning them off’ and that laser removal is way ‘worse’ than actually getting inked in the first place.
The comedian explained: ‘They burn off a layer of your skin, then it has to heal for six to eight weeks.’
Pete also revealed how the process affects your day-to-day life. He noted that ‘you can’t get in the sunlight,’ and ‘then you’ve got to do it like 12 more times.’
Perhaps the moral of the story here, as backed up by plenty of people in the ‘tattoo regret’ community, is make sure you’re 100% sure about the design and the placement, and do your research into the artist.
Tattoos are for life, after all, not just for Christmas. That’s what they say, isn’t it?
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