Pete Davidson Describes 'Horrible' Tattoo-Removal Process and Says He's Only Keeping '2 or 3': 'Clean Slate'

• Pete Davidson gave an update on his tattoo removal during appearances on Today and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, saying the process is "horrible."

• The comedian shared that, at one point, he had up to 200 tattoos and plans to keep only "two or three."

• Davidson first shared he was embarking on the tattoo removal process in 2020.

Pete Davidson is making a big change.

After accumulating a massive collection of tattoos over the years, the comedian and actor, 31, has decided to remove almost all of his ink.

While promoting his new movie Dog Man on the Friday, Jan. 31 episode Today, Davidson opened up about the incredibly painful removal process.

"It’s pretty terrible, so if anybody out there is watching and thinking about getting a tattoo, make sure you really want to get it," he told hosts Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin while pulling up his sleeve to show the faded tattoos on his forearm. "It’s pretty gone."

When asked what inspired the decision, the Saturday Night Live alum replied, "I got sober and I saw myself in the mirror and I was like, ‘Nah. Who that?' I was like, 'I got to change it up a little bit.'"

Davidson also spoke about his tattoo removal during a Wednesday, Jan. 30, appearance onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

"I've been burning them off," he told host Jimmy Fallon. "They're almost gone."

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Fallon, 50, then asked if the process was painful. "It's horrible," Davidson said. "It's worse [than getting them]. They have to burn off a layer of your skin and then it has to heal for, like, six to eight weeks and you can't get in the sunlight. And then you've gotta do it, like, 12 more times."

He then quipped, "So yeah, really think about that Game of Thrones tattoo you're thinking of getting."

Davidson also shared that at one point he had "probably, like, 200" tattoos. "Yeah, I was sad boy," he added.

"It was a weird time," the actor continued. "Everybody was getting tattoos, like, five years ago. Do you remember that? Post Malone was like, 'always tired' and I was like, 'Yeah, me too dude. I'm exhausted,'" referencing the rapper's under-eye ink bearing the phrase.

Davidson plans to keep "maybe, like, two or three" of his tattoos, saying he's "trying to clean slate it."

"I'm trying to be an adult," he added.

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The comedian first announced that he was embarking on the tattoo-removal process in 2020 and confirmed the decision during a 2021 episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers. At the time, he said that his budding film career prompted him to pursue tattoo removal.

"I honestly never thought that I would get an opportunity to act and I love it a lot," Davidson told host Seth Meyers. "It takes, like, three hours — you have to get there, like, three hours earlier — to cover all your tattoos. For some reason, people in movies, they don't have them that much."

On Oct. 23, 2024, Davidson showed off his faded ink at a preview of The Room at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. At the event, he posed with rapper Machine Gun Kelly and could be seen with mostly bare arms.

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