The Kardashians is back for Season 3, and the first episode has already delivered the juicy details on Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson’s breakup. After nine months of dating, it was reported by E! News on Aug. 5 that Kim and Pete had split, with sources claiming that the “long-distance dynamic and their demanding schedules made it really difficult to maintain a relationship.” Just a few weeks prior to this, Kim and Pete seemed stronger than ever, with Pete having even been introduced to Kim’s children. So, understandably, the news of their breakup came as a bit of a surprise.
The seemingly sudden nature of their split was made all the more intriguing by the fact that neither of them ever publicly alluded to a reason for the breakup, leading fans only to speculate about what may have gone wrong between the two. But now, at long, long last, Kim’s finally given us the inside scoop on the demise of the relationship — and it sounds like it was pretty amicable.
In the season premiere of The Kardashians, which dropped on Hulu today, Kim talks explicitly about the details of the breakup for the first time during a catch-up with Khloé and Scott Disick. While the trio are hanging out at Khloé’s house, Scott kicks off the conversation by asking Kim how she’s feeling about her first split since her divorce from Kanye West, prompting her to respond, “Breakups are just, like, not my thing.” Based on what we know about the filming schedule for this season, it seems like this scene was filmed in late August or early September, meaning the conversation likely took place only a few weeks after the breakup was reported.
Kim admits in her confessional that she’s not feeling great about single life, confessing with a disheartened sigh: “I’m single, and I’m not ready to mingle. And that’s OK.” Going back to her debrief with Scott, Kim explains that she and Pete had been “talking” about the breakup for a while before it happened. “I’m proud of myself,” Kim says. “I mean, we just had talks and talks, like, we’d been talking about it, so it was just, like, both of us communicating really well about it. It’s obviously sad.” In turn, Scott asks how long they were together, which leads Kim to reflect on the seriousness of their romance.
“Nine months. It’s a long time. I don’t have random hookups and relationships. You know what I mean? Everything I’ve been in is kind of like a long time,” she says, as Scott acknowledges the significance of Pete being the first person she dated after her marriage to Kanye. Kim doesn’t explicitly mention the exact reason for the breakup. However, she does allude to issues and “guilt” in their relationship, brought about by her messy divorce from Kanye.
In the unlikely event that you’ve managed to forget, the large majority of Kim and Pete’s time together was sadly plagued by conflict thanks to her ex-husband, who made it abundantly clear over the course of several months that he was not on board with the relationship. Starting in January 2022, Kanye took direct aim at Pete, rapping about wanting to “beat [his] ass,” and sharing countless social media posts calling him “trash” and even threatening violence. At one point, he went as far as to air private text messages in which Kim expressed concern for Pete’s safety.
By March, Kanye’s online attacks reached new heights when he released a disturbing music video for his song “Eazy,” which depicts him kidnapping and decapitating a claymation version of Pete. A screen at the end of the video read: “EVERYONE LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER EXCEPT SKETE.” The harassment became so intense that fans became incredibly concerned for Pete’s well-being, with some even calling for him to take legal action against the rapper. After Kim and Pete eventually broke up, reports surfaced that Pete had been seeking “trauma therapy” for months to help deal with the vitriol from Kanye and his fanbase.
Because of all of this, it was widely speculated that Kim and Pete’s breakup was caused in part by the intensity of Kanye’s harassment. And while Kim hasn’t confirmed that to be the case, she strongly suggests in this week’s episode that it made things difficult for the duo. Explicitly addressing Kanye’s harassment of Pete for the first time since their split, Kim tells Scott and Khloé: “He went through a lot, because, you know, of my relationship,” admitting that “there was a lot of guilt” on her part.
In her confessional, Kim alludes to the stresses that came from Kanye’s erratic behavior and opened up about how she feels it might impact her dating life going forward. “I go back and forth in my feelings sometimes, like, Ugh, who’s ever gonna want to date me? I have four kids. Like, I’m in my 40s. You know, oh my God, who’s gonna wanna deal with the drama?” she said, before admitting she’s still holding out hope for the right guy. “But my person will be like, ‘Fuck all of that. It’s gonna be hard but we’re together, and, like, we’re gonna do this,’” she said. “So I’m just waiting for that person.” It could be interpreted that Kim was implying here that the pressure of Kanye’s harassment eventually became too much for Pete to bear, resulting in the split. However, we can’t say for sure.
All in all, it seems fairly evident that Kim and Pete’s relationship ended on fairly good terms, which lines up with reports from the time that claimed they have “a lot of love and respect for each other” despite going their separate ways. At the start of this month, the exes looked friendly as they reunited in the same place they first hit it off in 2021 — the Met Ball.