Earlier this month, Pete Davidson sparked a frenzy when he quietly returned to Instagram after several years away from social media.
His account was most recently deactivated in May 2020 after a handful of sporadic social media posts to promote his semi-autobiographical movie, The King of Staten Island.
However, he’d first ditched his socials in 2018 in a bid to protect his mental health.
“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 fucking lit?” He asked fans at the time.
Pete acknowledged that he would probably be back “at some point,” but aside from a handful of brief appearances, he has been largely offline ever since.
So when a verified account with the handle @pmd emerged on Instagram last week, people were left doing a double take, with many thinking that the timing of Pete’s comeback was incredibly telling.
The account was activated following an onslaught of online attacks from Kanye West, who is unhappy about Pete’s relationship with his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
Although Kim filed for divorce from Kanye over a year ago and has been dating Pete since October 2021, Kanye only started to lash out at the couple last month.
It began with a jibe in his new single “Eazy,” which included the lyrics: “God saved me from the crash / Just so I can beat Pete Davidson's ass."
However, it soon escalated and Kanye shocked followers when he called Pete a “dickhead” and “trash” in a series of Instagram posts throughout February.
In one post, Kanye wrote: “When a garbage man goes to work, he gonna smell like trash. But it's time to take the trash out the house.” He also crossed Pete out of group photos and repeatedly referred to him as “Skete.”
Kanye also shared a screenshot of a text he'd allegedly received from the comic that attempted to reassure him that Pete wasn't trying to cause problems for his family.
In the message, Pete appeared to write: “As a man, I’d never get in the way of your children. It’s a promise. How you guys go about raising your kids is your business and not mine. I do hope one day I can meet them and we can all be friends.”
But Kanye rejected the olive branch, captioning the screenshot “NO YOU WILL NEVER MEET MY CHILDREN” before telling his fans to “scream” at Pete if he sees him in the street.
The repeated posts appeared to concern Kim, and Kanye was later accused of “harassing” his ex after he shared screenshots of messages she’d allegedly sent expressing fear for Pete’s safety.
In the texts, Kim allegedly warned Kanye that he was “creating a dangerous and scary environment,” adding: “Someone will hurt Pete.”
Kanye responded by telling his followers: “UPON MY WIFE’S REQUEST PLEASE NOBODY DO ANYTHING PHYSICAL TO SKETE I’M GOING TO HANDLE THE SITUATION MYSELF,” which some interpreted to be a threat of violence.
So when Pete returned to Instagram in the midst of these posts, many wondered if he might be about to address Kanye’s attempts to feud with him for the first time.
Pete has not publicly acknowledged anything that Kanye has said about him or posted online so far, and when Kanye told fans that he’d immediately followed Pete once he was made aware of his account, Pete did not return the favor.
In fact, despite having his Instagram account for almost a week and amassing 1.9 million followers, Pete has yet to post anything at all to the profile.
But on Monday, people noticed that he’d made a “subtle” change to his account that they interpreted to be Pete’s “sneaky” way of throwing shade at Kanye.
Pete updated his Instagram bio to a YouTube link.
The link takes people to a 10-second clip from the 1982 movie The King of Comedy, which shows character Rupert Pupkin delivering his famous line: “Better to be king for a night than a schmuck for a lifetime.”
The comment section for the video has been flooded with supportive messages to Pete, as well as people claiming that he is clearly “throwing shade” by putting the link on his profile.
“We see you Pete throwing shade… Subtle,” one wrote. While another added: “Shade has been thrown and I’m here for it.”
A third viewer commented: “Damn, Pete firing sneaky shots.” One simply stated: “Well said, Pete!”
Pete and Kim have gained newfound respect for the way that they have handled Kanye’s outbursts, with many horrified onlookers praising Kim for not reacting to his posts.
So far, she has only issued one public response after Kanye lashed out at her for creating a shared TikTok account with their 8-year-old daughter, North, without his “approval.”
At the time, Kim said that Kanye’s “constant attacks” were “hurtful” as she acknowledged that divorce is already “difficult” on their four children.
Posting to her Instagram story, she wrote: “Kanye's constant attacks on me in interviews and on social media is actually more hurtful than any TikTok North might create. As the parent who is the main provider and caregiver for our children I am doing my best to protect our daughter while also allowing her to express her creativity in the medium that she wishes with adult supervision — because it brings her happiness.”
