Reports: Kanye's Bullying Left Pete Davidson Seeking Trauma Therapy
Kanye West's harassment of Pete Davidson — which commenced while Davidson was dating West's ex, Kim Kardashian — has driven the "SNL" alum to seek trauma therapy, People Magazine says, basing the story on information from "a source close to the comedian."
"Beginning in April of this year, the Saturday Night Live alum, 28, 'has been in trauma therapy in large part' due to threatening posts that West, 45, has posted numerous times on social media while Davidson was dating the rapper's ex-wife, Kim Kardashian," People relayed.
The source told People that it as because of West's online bullying that Davidson has "been absent from social media."
The source told People that the "negativity coming from Kanye and his antics is a trigger" for the comedian, who, after nine months and as of last week, is no longer dating Kardashian — although West's "antics" were evidently not the reason for the split: According to the source, Davidson "has no regrets for dating Kim and wants it to be made very clear that she's been nothing but supportive of him throughout their relationship."
But even after the split, West's attacks didn't stop. After news of the pair's breakup hit, West took to Instagram to post "a since-deleted post featuring an image of an altered New York Times newspaper with a headline that read, 'Skete Davidson Dead at Age 28,' " People detailed.
Davidson and Kardashian, through their respective teams, both "have reached out repeatedly to Instagram asking to make the platform a safer space," another source advised.
Additionally, another source — this one "close to" Kardashian — told UK newspaper the Daily Mail that Kardashian "won't stand for this" and had "demand[ed] that Kanye take the post down.... She has been vigorously defending Pete. She'll never get back together with Kanye over the way he's treated the people she loves and respects."
Entertainment Weekly recalled an earlier jab from West at Davidson, when "the Grammy-winner buried a claymation Davidson in the music video for 'Eazy' with rapper The Game back in March.
"The song includes lyrics about beating 'Pete Davidson's ass.' "
EW gibed that West "put as much effort into trolling Davidson as he did into making his last album," and Davidson, too, mined the situation for comedy material, riffing in his act at the Netflix is a Joke Fest about West allegedly hurling an insult at Davidson involving AIDS.
Pretending to have taken West seriously, Davidson told the crowd, "I had an AIDS scare this year.... Kanye told me I had AIDS. And he's a genius. So, I was like, 'Oh, fuck.' I was like, 'I better call my doctor. The guy who made 'College Dropout' thinks I have AIDS.' "
The comic continued in this vein, adding: "John Mulaney called me. He's like, 'AIDS? You should spread a rumor that he has polio.' "