Pete Davidson keeps tattoo tributes to parents amid removal process

Pete Davidson is getting over 200 inkings removed but won't get rid of his tattoo tributes to his parents. Photo / Getty Images

Pete Davidson won’t get rid of his tattoo tributes to his parents.

The former Saturday Night Live star is in the midst of a lengthy process of getting rid of over 200 individual inkings from all over his body. However, he plans to keep designs inspired by The Sopranos, as well as two poignant designs he had done for his mum, Amy Waters Davidson, and late father Scott Davidson, a firefighter who died during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York.

He told Entertainment Tonight: “I got all these tattoos, so my mom was like, ‘How come you’ve never gotten a “Mom” tattoo?’ Now I have a tattoo that just says ‘MOM TATTOO’. That one has to stay ...

“I have my dad’s ID [number], and that’s pretty much it.”

Davidson – who is expecting his first child with girlfriend Elsie Hewitt – began the 10-year removal process in 2020 and admitted he is hoping to serve as a warning to other people because the procedure isn’t very comfortable.

He said: “It’s awful. I’ve been filming it and showing all the younger people in my family to be like, ‘If you don’t like it, this is what you have to do.’

“But I’m excited ‘cause I’m making changes. So I’m excited, but it sucks.”

The 31-year-old comic previously said he views getting his tattoos removed as a fresh start after overcoming addiction.

He told Variety: “I used to be a drug addict and I was a sad person, and I felt ugly and that I needed to be covered up.

“So I’m just removing them and starting fresh, because that’s what I think works best for me and for my brain. When I look in the mirror, I don’t want the reminder of ‘Oh yeah, you were a f****** drug addict. Like, that’s why you have SpongeBob smoking a joint on your back.”

The star of The King of Staten Island has spent more than US$200,000 ($351,617) having them removed.

He admitted: “It’s a pretty uncomfortable amount of money to disclose, but I think one of the tabloids already leaked it.

“I’ve already spent like $200k and I’m like 30% done. So, like, it’s gonna suck ... My arms are pretty much gone, and my hands and neck are gone. But I still have to do my torso and back.”