Pete Davidson is longing for the days of old-fashioned dating.
During a recent interview with Variety, the 31-year-old comedian opened up about how he believes dating apps and social media have ruined romance for younger generations.
“Dating apps are just so dismissive,” the “Saturday Night Live” alum said. “It’s just like, ‘No. Yes. No.’ That’s so rude. Like, you don’t even know this f—— person, you know?”
“So, I really feel bad for this crop of people because I have anxiety, and when I grew up, it was just flip phones, and it was pretty awesome,” he added. “But the kids today, they don’t even have a f—— shot.
“They don’t even have a shot. So, I just hope it changes and enough people revert backwards a little bit.”
Davidson shared his view that the advent of the internet age, the pervasiveness of social media and the omnipresence of cellphones have also had detrimental effects on dating and damaged people’s mental health.
“I think social media and the internet and the phone in general makes everything really difficult and can cause a lot of anxiety and get you doing bad,” he said. “We’re not supposed to see everyone’s s— all day.
“It used to be that someone found out something and then you either call on your house phone or you meet up and be like, ‘Hey, did you hear about this?’ And now you just have this thing in your pocket all day that will make you feel bad,” he explained.
While speaking with Variety, Davidson shared his tips for young people trying to navigate dating and maintaining self-esteem in today’s environment.
“My advice would just be to just try and not let social media or this fictitious world that we’re all trying to have a profile on affect how you behave in everyday life,” Davidson said.
“There’s this barrier now where people are uncomfortable and have more anxiety, which is only natural with today’s technology. I think you just need to be nice to yourself and give yourself the benefit,” he added.
“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves because of the internet,” Davidson noted. “Like, I know exactly what Mark Wahlberg is doing all day. I don’t need to know that.
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“That’s not a slam at him. It’s just an example,” he clarified. “Like, we’re not supposed to know everything all the time.
“That’s what dating is — to get to know someone and fall in love. And that’s what’s so beautiful about it. So, I think when it comes to dating, it should be more prehistoric and not on the phone or Instagram.”
Davidson told Variety he believes being authentic and true to one’s self is key when it comes to dating.
“‘Rizz’ is just being shamelessly who you are,” Davidson said. “I think that’s attractive now — not following the pack and kind of doing your own thing. We live in a doom-scrolling world where we’re all trying to be what we think people want us to be and that’s not a healthy way to live.”
Davidson does not have social media profiles on any platform. During a recent interview with People magazine, he doubled down on his stance regarding modern technology and elaborated on his decision to abstain from the online world.
“As far as young dudes, I’m having a tough time in today’s society. And I can’t imagine growing up with a device, a phone or a computer that just makes you miserable all day and tricks you into thinking you have to go on it all day,” he said.
“I just think social media and the internet in general is the devil, and I just think there’s going to be new studies in the next five, 10, 20 years of how it ruined, you know, the future of humans,” he predicted.
The “Bupkis” star encouraged others to focus on building connections in person even if they might find it “scary” and “uncomfortable” in the beginning.
“I promise you it’s so worth it to talk to a human and see that there is goodness in the world,” he said.
Davidson has previously said part of his motivation for staying off social media is to avoid further scrutiny on his love life. Since rising to fame on “SNL,” the comedian has had a string of high-profile romances with some of Hollywood’s most famous women.
In 2018, Davidson made headlines for his brief yet highly public relationship with pop star Ariana Grande. Their romance began shortly after Davidson broke up with Larry David’s daughter, Cazzie David, whom he dated for two years, and Grande split from her boyfriend of two years, the late rapper Mac Miller.
The two moved in together and announced their engagement after just a few weeks of dating.
However, their whirlwind romance came to an end after five months. Grande has previously confirmed her Grammy-nominated breakup album, “thank u, next” was inspired by her split from Davidson.
Following the end of his engagement to Grande, Davidson moved on with actress Kate Beckinsale, whom he dated from January 2019 to April 2019.
After splitting from Beckinsale, the actor and stand-up comedian engaged in other high-profile romances, though many were short-lived.
From 2019 to 2021, Davidson was briefly linked to actress Margaret Qualley, model Kaia Gerber and singer Olivia O’Brien.
In February 2021, Davidson began dating “Bridgerton” actress Phoebe Dynevor, but their relationship ended in August of that year.
Davidson’s next highly publicized relationship was with “The Kardashians” star Kim Kardashian. The two became a couple after Kardashian hosted “Saturday Night Live” in October 2021. After weeks of claiming their connection was platonic, the pair confirmed their romance in November 2021.
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After nine months of dating, Davidson and Kardashian went their separate ways in August 2022.
After his breakup with Kardashian, Davidson briefly dated model Emily Ratajkowski before moving on with his “Bodies, Bodies, Bodies” co-star Chase Sui Wonders. The former couple first sparked dating rumors in December 2022 and confirmed their romance a month later. However, the duo had called it quits by August 2023.
A month later, Davidson was romantically linked to “Outer Banks” star Madelyn Cline. The two mostly kept their relationship out of the spotlight before reportedly splitting in July 2024.
The comedian is now dating model Elsie Hewitt. In March, the pair were spotted enjoying a PDA-filled day at the beach in Florida. The two went Instagram official a few days later when Hewitt featured a video of herself with Davidson on her Instagram story.
Last month, a source told Page Six “things are getting serious” between Davidson and Hewitt.
“Pete is all in,” the insider told the outlet. “He really likes Elsie a lot, and he wants to do things differently this time around.
“He doesn’t want to rush things, and he took his time getting to know her before getting involved in anything romantic,” the source added. “They started off as friends and were able to build that foundation of friendship which allowed Pete to see if his values aligned with Elsie’s.”
According to the insider, Davidson “has taken things slow because he really wanted to get to know her.”
During an April 2023 appearance on Jon Bernthal’s “Real Ones” podcast, Davidson explained he didn’t understand the public interest in his dating life.
“I’m in my 20s and I’ve dated people and, for some reason, that is very crazy and interesting to people. I don’t think it’s that interesting,” he said. “I’ve been in show business for half my life almost, for like, 14, 15 years, on a national TV show, and in 10 years, I’ve dated, like, 12 people? I don’t think it’s that crazy.”
Davidson noted he prefers to keep his personal life private and pointed out that his dating history was only well-known because it was frequently covered in the media.
“I’m not on Instagram, I’m not on social media. I’m not, like, flexing,” Davidson said. “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 …where you meet people. And that’s just who I was working with and who I was around, and that’s how it happens.”
In February, Davidson claimed he’s been “harassed” about his past relationships due to his appearance.
“Everyone is dating everyone, and it’s Hollywood,” Davidson told Page Six. “Look at Paul Mescal, Timmy [Chalamet], Barry Keough. But because I’m ugly, they wrote about me. I was harassed for like five years, and it made my life a living hell.”
Davidson added that the scrutiny was “pretty humiliating and upsetting” and shared his view that the focus on his dating life had overshadowed his career achievements.
The comedian rose to prominence on “SNL” after landing an audition through one of the show’s alums, Bill Hader, according to NBC. He joined the cast at the age of 20 in 2014 and left the live comedy show in 2022.
“[I] was one of the youngest ever cast members on ‘SNL,’ and all that got pushed to the side because of who I was dating,” he remarked. “I’ve had some pretty adult relationships with some pretty amazing women, and when it’s ended, it’s been cool.”