Pete Davidson Dating Up

2018catchphraseclassic

Pete Davidson Dating Up is a running internet joke and meme trend built around the SNL comedian's repeated pairings with famous women that online commenters consider far more high-status than he is. It started in May 2018 with Ariana Grande and kept refueling through Kate Beckinsale, Kim Kardashian and Emily Ratajkowski, spawning years of confusion memes on Twitter.

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Overview

Pete Davidson Dating Up is the running online joke that the SNL cast member and stand-up comedian keeps ending up with famous women the internet decides are wildly out of his league. The bit treats each new pairing as a fresh punchline about a lanky, tattoo-covered comic somehow pulling pop stars, action-movie leads and reality TV moguls. Every fresh headline reboots the same confused reaction memes, usually variations on 'how is he doing this' framed against a photo of Davidson looking exactly like Davidson5.

The joke is not one image or format but a recurring template that reactivates whenever Davidson goes public with someone new. Grande in 2018, Kate Beckinsale in early 2019, Kim Kardashian in late 2021 and Emily Ratajkowski in November 2022 each triggered a new round of jokes about him 'dating up,' with fans and tabloids treating him as the poster boy for punching above your league54. The engine underneath the meme is celebrity gossip coverage, which kept feeding Twitter fresh receipts every few months for almost five years.

How It Spread

In the weeks after the E! News tweet, Twitter users piled on with confused-reaction posts about the pairing, including a widely liked June 9th, 2018 tweet from @ohJuliatweets comparing Davidson to a pile of sweatshirts and joke tweets calling him 'the boy who flipped his eyelids from your school'5. The engagement announcement drove another wave, with a Tonight Show clip of Davidson confirming the news racking up tens of thousands of likes on Twitter within a day1. When Grande told the world in a since-deleted tweet that Davidson's penis was roughly 10 inches, the joke fused with the newly minted phrase Big Dick Energy, which fans then used to 'explain' how he kept landing women considered out of his league52.

The couple split in October 2018, but the meme did not die with the relationship. On March 3rd, 2019, Davidson was photographed kissing new girlfriend Kate Beckinsale at a New York Rangers vs Washington Capitals game at Madison Square Garden, next to a visibly uncomfortable Queer Eye star Antoni Porowski, and the picture blew up as a new template for the dating-up joke5. Coverage of Davidson's dating history around that time listed exes including Phoebe Dynevor, Beckinsale and Grande, cementing the pattern in tabloid shorthand2.

The biggest reboot came in November 2021, when Daily Mail published exclusive photos of Kardashian, 41, and Davidson, 28, holding hands in Palm Springs while he wore SKIMS pyjama bottoms from her brand2. E! News later reported the pair broke up in August 2022 after roughly nine months, citing long distance and demanding schedules3. Kanye West responded by posting a fake front page reading 'Skate Davidson Dead at 28' on Instagram5. In November 2022, Us Weekly confirmed Davidson was dating model Emily Ratajkowski, quoting a source that 'Pete makes Emily laugh and he loves how intelligent she is'4. Each of those beats spawned a fresh round of the same meme.

How to Use This Meme

The meme is typically deployed as a reaction post whenever a new Pete Davidson relationship goes public. Common conventions include quote-tweeting a paparazzi photo or People magazine headline with a stunned or deadpan caption, posting a picture of Davidson next to the new girlfriend with a one-word reaction like 'how,' or invoking Big Dick Energy as the ironic explanation for the pairing52. Users often line up two or three of his past partners in a grid to underline the streak, or repurpose the 2019 hockey-game kiss photo with Beckinsale as a template.

Frequently Asked Questions

Pete Davidson Dating Up

2018catchphraseclassic

Pete Davidson Dating Up is a running internet joke and meme trend built around the SNL comedian's repeated pairings with famous women that online commenters consider far more high-status than he is. It started in May 2018 with Ariana Grande and kept refueling through Kate Beckinsale, Kim Kardashian and Emily Ratajkowski, spawning years of confusion memes on Twitter.

scandal memes snl memes confusion memes relationship memes 2018 memes

Overview

Pete Davidson Dating Up is the running online joke that the SNL cast member and stand-up comedian keeps ending up with famous women the internet decides are wildly out of his league. The bit treats each new pairing as a fresh punchline about a lanky, tattoo-covered comic somehow pulling pop stars, action-movie leads and reality TV moguls. Every fresh headline reboots the same confused reaction memes, usually variations on 'how is he doing this' framed against a photo of Davidson looking exactly like Davidson5.

The joke is not one image or format but a recurring template that reactivates whenever Davidson goes public with someone new. Grande in 2018, Kate Beckinsale in early 2019, Kim Kardashian in late 2021 and Emily Ratajkowski in November 2022 each triggered a new round of jokes about him 'dating up,' with fans and tabloids treating him as the poster boy for punching above your league54. The engine underneath the meme is celebrity gossip coverage, which kept feeding Twitter fresh receipts every few months for almost five years.

How It Spread

In the weeks after the E! News tweet, Twitter users piled on with confused-reaction posts about the pairing, including a widely liked June 9th, 2018 tweet from @ohJuliatweets comparing Davidson to a pile of sweatshirts and joke tweets calling him 'the boy who flipped his eyelids from your school'5. The engagement announcement drove another wave, with a Tonight Show clip of Davidson confirming the news racking up tens of thousands of likes on Twitter within a day1. When Grande told the world in a since-deleted tweet that Davidson's penis was roughly 10 inches, the joke fused with the newly minted phrase Big Dick Energy, which fans then used to 'explain' how he kept landing women considered out of his league52.

The couple split in October 2018, but the meme did not die with the relationship. On March 3rd, 2019, Davidson was photographed kissing new girlfriend Kate Beckinsale at a New York Rangers vs Washington Capitals game at Madison Square Garden, next to a visibly uncomfortable Queer Eye star Antoni Porowski, and the picture blew up as a new template for the dating-up joke5. Coverage of Davidson's dating history around that time listed exes including Phoebe Dynevor, Beckinsale and Grande, cementing the pattern in tabloid shorthand2.

The biggest reboot came in November 2021, when Daily Mail published exclusive photos of Kardashian, 41, and Davidson, 28, holding hands in Palm Springs while he wore SKIMS pyjama bottoms from her brand2. E! News later reported the pair broke up in August 2022 after roughly nine months, citing long distance and demanding schedules3. Kanye West responded by posting a fake front page reading 'Skate Davidson Dead at 28' on Instagram5. In November 2022, Us Weekly confirmed Davidson was dating model Emily Ratajkowski, quoting a source that 'Pete makes Emily laugh and he loves how intelligent she is'4. Each of those beats spawned a fresh round of the same meme.

How to Use This Meme

The meme is typically deployed as a reaction post whenever a new Pete Davidson relationship goes public. Common conventions include quote-tweeting a paparazzi photo or People magazine headline with a stunned or deadpan caption, posting a picture of Davidson next to the new girlfriend with a one-word reaction like 'how,' or invoking Big Dick Energy as the ironic explanation for the pairing52. Users often line up two or three of his past partners in a grid to underline the streak, or repurpose the 2019 hockey-game kiss photo with Beckinsale as a template.

Frequently Asked Questions