It was the breakup that launched a thousand "thank u, next" memes, but the actual timeline of Cazzie David and Pete Davidson is way messier than most people remember. Honestly, if you only know Pete from his whirlwind engagement to Ariana Grande, you're missing the prologue that explains everything about how he operates in relationships. It wasn't just some casual dating situation. They were together for two and a half years. That is an eternity in "SNL" years.
Cazzie, the daughter of Curb Your Enthusiasm creator Larry David, wasn't just a bystander in Pete’s rise to fame. She was there for the tattoos, the mental health struggles, and the early days of him becoming a household name. Then, in the blink of an eye, she was gone, and he was the most famous fiancé on the planet.
The Anxiety and the "Break" That Wasn't
Most celebrity breakups are sanitized by PR teams. This one wasn't. Cazzie David eventually laid it all out in her essay collection, No One Asked for This, and it is a brutal, honest look at how things ended. She admitted that she struggled with constant anxiety throughout their relationship. She felt like she couldn't leave because she was worried about his well-being, but she also felt like she was suffocating.
So, she did what many people in their early 20s do. She picked a fight and suggested a break.
Two days later, she changed her mind. She called him. She told him she made a mistake. Pete's response? He told her he was the "happiest he’d ever been." A few days after that, he officially ended things via text message.
Think about that. You go on a "break" to clear your head, and by the time you've unpacked your bags, your partner has basically moved on to a literal pop star. It sounds like a plot from her dad's show, but it was her actual life. The speed was the part that killed. It wasn't just that he moved on; it was that he moved on with one of the most visible women in the world.
The Ariana Grande Sized Elephant in the Room
When Pete started dating Ariana Grande, the internet exploded. It was May 2018. The timeline was so tight it was practically overlapping. Fans were doing the math. "Wait, wasn't he just with Larry David's daughter?" Yes. Yes, he was.
Cazzie described the experience of being in a hotel room with her family, scrolling through Instagram, and seeing Pete's new life play out in real-time. He was covering up the tattoos he got for her. He was getting new ones for Ariana. It was a digital-age haunting.
- The "C" tattoo on his hand? Covered.
- The drawing of her face on his arm? Gone.
- The matching "X" tattoos? Irrelevant.
It's one thing to get dumped. It's another thing to have your replacement be the person whose music is playing in every elevator and grocery store you walk into. Cazzie mentioned she couldn't even look at her phone without seeing them. It was a total sensory takeover.
Why the Public Side-Sided Cazzie
People love an underdog, and in the world of Hollywood royalty, the girl-next-door (even if she is a David) getting dumped for a superstar is a classic narrative. But it was more than that. It was the "Big Dick Energy" era. Pete was being celebrated for his whirlwind romance while Cazzie was effectively a ghost.
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There’s a specific kind of pain in seeing your ex-boyfriend become a "king" for the very traits you spent years trying to manage or support. She had been his anchor. Now, he was sailing away on a mega-yacht.
Mental Health and the SNL Pressure Cooker
We have to talk about the context of Pete's life at the time. He has been incredibly open about his Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) diagnosis. For those who don't know, BPD often involves intense fears of abandonment and "splitting"—where someone is either all good or all bad.
When you look at the Cazzie David and Pete Davidson relationship through that lens, the sudden shift makes more sense. It doesn't make it hurt less for the person on the receiving end, but it explains the velocity. Pete isn't a "slow and steady" kind of guy. He's an "all-in or all-out" guy.
During their two years, he credited her with keeping him grounded. She was his person. But the environment at Saturday Night Live is notoriously high-stress. You're constantly seeking the next high, the next laugh, the next big moment. Living in that bubble while dating someone who also deals with high levels of anxiety is a recipe for a beautiful, chaotic disaster.
The Reconciliation Nobody Expected
Usually, when a breakup is this messy and this public, the two people never speak again. They become "those" exes. But Cazzie and Pete actually managed to find a weird, functional middle ground.
In the acknowledgments of her book, she actually thanked him. She wrote: "Pete. I love you. Your bravery inspires me and your friendship means the world to me."
That’s a huge pivot from the girl who was crying in a hotel room in 2018. It shows a level of maturity that most people—celebrity or not—never actually reach with their exes. They survived the "Ariana era." They survived the media frenzy. They even stayed friends through his subsequent high-profile relationships with Kate Beckinsale, Kim Kardashian, and whoever else the tabloids linked him with that week.
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What This Teaches Us About Modern Dating
There's a lesson here about the "rebound." We often think of rebounds as temporary distractions. But for Pete, the rebound was an engagement. It shows that everyone processes grief and endings differently.
- Some people need a year of silence and therapy.
- Some people need to jump into a burning building to forget the house they just left.
- Neither is "right," but one is definitely louder.
The Legacy of the Relationship
If you look back at Pete’s dating history, Cazzie was really the last "private" relationship he had. After her, everything became a spectacle. The pap walks, the matching outfits, the public declarations of love.
Cazzie, meanwhile, used the pain to fuel her writing. She leaned into the awkwardness. She became a voice for people who feel "too much" and who don't fit into the glossy, perfect world of Instagram influencers. She proved that you can be the "ex-girlfriend" and still have your own identity that isn't defined by who you used to sleep with.
She’s since been linked to Mac Miller’s brother, Miller McCormick, and has carved out a niche as a dry, satirical writer. Pete continues to be Pete—a lightning rod for attention and a revolving door of A-list romances.
Moving Forward: Lessons from the Fallout
If you find yourself in a situation where your "Cazzie and Pete" moment is happening—where you've been replaced at light speed—here is how to actually handle it without losing your mind.
Audit your digital space immediately. Cazzie talked about how she had to get off social media. You cannot heal while watching a 4K livestream of your ex's new life. If they are famous, or even just "locally famous," hit the mute button. Or the block button. There is no shame in it.
Lean into the "ugly" feelings. Don't try to be the "cool girl" who doesn't care. Cazzie admitted she was a wreck. She admitted she was screaming. Acknowledging the embarrassment of being publicly dumped is the only way to get past it.
Recognize that speed is usually about the other person. When someone moves on instantly, it’s rarely a reflection of how much they loved you. It’s a reflection of how much they can't stand to be alone with themselves. Pete’s track record proves he doesn't like the silence between relationships. That’s a "him" thing, not a "Cazzie" thing.
Write your own narrative. Cazzie didn't let the tabloids tell her story. She waited until she was ready and then wrote it herself. Whether you have a book deal or just a private journal, getting the facts down—your facts—helps reclaim the power that a sudden breakup steals from you.
The story of Cazzie David and Pete Davidson is ultimately a reminder that even the messiest endings can eventually settle into a quiet friendship. It just takes a few years, a lot of therapy, and maybe a few essays to get there.
Next Steps for Understanding This Dynamic
- Read the Source Material: Pick up No One Asked for This by Cazzie David. The chapter "Too Much" is the definitive account of the breakup and provides context that no tabloid snippet can capture.
- Analyze the Timeline: Look at Pete Davidson’s SNL "Weekend Update" segments from 2018. You can actually see the physical and emotional transition he goes through during the months he moved from Cazzie to Ariana.
- Study the "BPD" Impact: Research how Borderline Personality Disorder affects relationship cycles. Understanding "love bombing" and "devaluation" can provide a more empathetic (and clinical) view of why this relationship ended the way it did.