I don’t think I have that much of a romantic “type,” but I have to admit that I’ve always had a weak spot for comedians, whether they’re buttoned-up sweeties with plenty of bite like John Mulaney and Nick Kroll, or consistently ironic masters of the bizarre like Patti Harrison and Conner O’Malley. (I think most, if not all, of these people are either partnered or married, as am I, but that said, if any of them is reading this and wants to kiss, we could probably work something out.)
To that end, I’ve always found comedian and frequent famous-girlfriend-haver Pete Davidson particularly attractive not in spite of, but because of, his laid-back attitude, propensity for chaos, and cornucopia of tattoos. Seeing him appear in a brand-new Valentine’s Day–timed ad campaign as the “official boyfriend of Reformation” with half a year of sobriety behind him and $200,000 worth of tattoo removal, though, has reactivated my crush in a way I wouldn’t have been able to predict.
“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 said of his decision to start undergoing the often-painful and expensive tattoo-removal process in 2020, and I have to applaud the man for taking this kind of initiative to be more comfortable in his own skin.
Watch the full campaign video below:
I happen to be covered in upwards of 15 tattoos at this point in time. (Dad, if your Google Alerts are still set to read all my stories: I’m sorry.) So I have to stress that this praise for Davidson’s new look has no element of aesthetic judgment to it whatsoever; full-body tattoos looked hot on Davidson, IMO, in an indie-sleaze demigod kind of way, but not only does he look particularly male-model-esque in his Reformation ads (That jawline! Was it always so cut?), he also looks … happy.
Can you tell the true state of someone’s mental health from photos? Of course not, but I’m always going to applaud anyone in the public eye who goes out of their way to spark conversations about recovery and personal wellness. Go off, Pete Davidson, and my compliments go out to your tattoo-removal surgeon!
