Pete Davidson. Kristina Bumphrey/StarPix/Shutterstock
He’s back! Pete Davidson has returned to Instagram after a five-year hiatus from the social media platform.
The Saturday Night Live alum, 29, currently isn’t following anyone and hasn’t uploaded any posts. His profile, however — which went live on Friday, March 31 — features a bio that reads, “Bupkis premieres 5/4 on @peacock,” with a picture of the comedian swimming in the ocean with his eyes closed.
Davidson initially left the app in December 2018 following his split from ex-fiancée Ariana Grande. The King of Staten Island actor proposed to the Victorious alum, 29, after just a few weeks of dating in August of that year. After the duo called off their engagement in October 2018, Grande penned the chart-topping single “Thank U, Next” which detailed Davidson and the pair’s whirlwind romance.
Following their breakup, the Set It Up star opened up about facing online haters and the negative effects it had on his health.
“I’ve been getting online bullied and in public by people for 9 months. I’ve spoken about BPD and being suicidal publicly only in the hopes that it will help bring awareness and help kids like myself who don’t want to be on this earth,” he wrote via Instagram post at the time. “I just want you guys to know. No matter how hard the internet or anyone tries to make me kill myself. I won’t.”
Davidson at the ‘Meet Cute’ film premiere in New York, September 2022. AFF-USA/Shutterstock
Davidson then sparked concern for his safety when he posted a series of alarming Instagram messages, writing, “I really don’t want to be on this earth anymore. I’m doing my best to stay here for you but I actually don’t know how much longer I can last. All I’ve ever tried to do was help people. Just remember I told you so.” (Us Weekly confirmed hours later that the New York Police Department made contact with Davidson after performing a “wellness check.”)
After the Dirt star officially removed himself from social media, he further explained his reasoning behind distancing himself from online culture.
“No, there’s nothing wrong. No nothing happened. No there’s nothing cryptic about anything. I just don’t wanna be on Instagram anymore, or on any social media platform,” he shared in a statement at the time. “The Internet is an evil place and it doesn’t make me feel good. Why should I spend any time on negative energy when my real life is f—king lit. The fact that I even have to say this proves my point. I love you all and I’m sure I’ll be back at some point. Your neighborhood goon, Pete.”
While he returned to Instagram in February 2022, he deleted the app for a second time after only a week.
Davidson was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in 2017 and hasn’t shied away from talking bout his mental health struggles over the years.
Earlier this week, the New York native got candid about how the jokes surrounding his love life took a toll on his well-being — especially while he was working on SNL.
“When it’s your own show, and I’ll be sitting in the back watching the cold open and [it’s] topical political humor or whatever in the culture, and they’re making fun of you and you gotta walk out and do a sketch next and hit your mark — the show just made fun of you, so why are they going to laugh at you? They just dogged you,” he said during an episode of the “Real Ones With Jon Berthnal” podcast, adding that it was “f—king confusing” because it’s the “nature of entertainment.”
He added: “It was a really difficult thing to do. You feel insecure. You feel like a small person.”
After his romance with Grande, Davidson made headlines for a series of relationships with various A-listers including Margaret Qualley, Kaia Gerber and Phoebe Dynevor. He began dating Kim Kardashian in October 2021 after she hosted the NBC sketch comedy show, and the pair were in a highly publicized romance for nine months before calling it quits in August 2022.
Since his split from the Kardashians star, 42, Davidson has been linked to Emily Ratajkowski and most recently, his Bodies, Bodies, Bodies costar Chase Sui Wonders.
Despite his high-profile dating repertoire, Davidson told host Jon Berthnal on Thursday he doesn’t think his love life is anything out of the ordinary — and that being in the “zeitgeist” for something that has “nothing to do with work” is a “real sh—ty feeling.”
“I’m in my 20’s and I’ve dated people. And for some reason, that’s very crazy and interesting to people. I don’t think it’s interesting,” he explained. “I’ve been in show business for, like, half my life almost — for 14 or 15 years and on a national TV show. In 12 years I’ve dated 10 people. I don’t think that’s that crazy, but to some people, that’s very interesting. That became all anyone would talk about.”
He continued: “I’m not, like, flexing, you know what I mean? And these people that I’ve dated, I met them at work. I wasn’t in anyone’s DMs, no one was in mine. I worked at one of the five Hollywood epicenters of where you meet people and that’s how it happened.”
