Pete Davidson says he realized his engagement to Ariana Grande would be coming to an end following the death of her ex Mac Miller in Sept. 2018. A month later the couple would call it quits as Ari continued to grieve the rapper, who passed away at just 26-years-old following an accidental overdose. Pete, 26, sat down for a lengthy interview with Charlamagne Tha God that dropped on Feb. 24, and said he understands why Ari ended things after Mac’s sudden passing.
“I totally got it,” Pete said. “She would even tell you this. I was like, ‘Listen, I get it, do whatever you’ve got to do, I’ll be here.’ I think I said, ‘I’ll be here until you don’t want me to be here.’” He continued. “I pretty much knew it was around over after that. That was really horrible, and I can’t imagine what that sh*t is like. All I do know is that she really loved the sh*t out of him, and she wasn’t putting on a show or anything. That was f**ked up. Prayers to his family and all of his friends.”
Ariana, 26, and Pete started dating in May 2018, just a few weeks after she broke up with Mac after a nearly two-year relationship. The romance moved at light speed, as Pete and Ariana got engaged three weeks after they started seeing each other. That had to be quite a blow to Mac. He was getting ready to go on tour when he died of an accidental drug overdose on Sept. 7, 2018, after battling substance abuse for a number of years. By mid Oct. 2018, Ariana and Pete were done as a couple.
It took Ariana a week to speak about Mac’s death. She posted an Instagram video of them laughing and talking in happier times on Sept. 14, 2018. Next to it she wrote, “i adored you from the day i met you when i was nineteen and i always will. i can’t believe you aren’t here anymore. i really can’t wrap my head around it. we talked about this. so many times. i’m so mad, i’m so sad i don’t know what to do. you were my dearest friend. for so long. above anything else. i’m so sorry i couldn’t fix or take your pain away. i really wanted to. the kindest, sweetest soul with demons he never deserved. i hope you’re okay now. rest.”
In the Aug. 2019 cover story for Vogue, Ariana discussed how being engaged to Pete was a “distraction” and that nearly a year later, Mac’s death was still “all-consuming.” “My friends were like, ‘Come! We’re gonna have a fun summer,’” Ariana said of moving to New York shortly after her breakup with Mac. “And then I met Pete, and it was an amazing distraction. It was frivolous and fun and insane and highly unrealistic, and I loved him, and I didn’t know him.”
When speaking of Mac, Ariana burst into tears. “I’m so sorry I’m crying. By no means was what we had perfect, but, like, f**k. He was the best person ever, and he didn’t deserve the demons he had. I was the glue for such a long time, and I found myself becoming…less and less sticky. The pieces just started to float away.”