By: Miller Gentry-Sharp (281)
If you’re someone who spends more time on the internet than you want to admit (it’s fine, you can admit it), then you’re probably familiar with the publicized feud between rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West and comedian Peter “Pete” Davidson. The feud, and Ye’s public internet crusade against the SNL star 20 years his junior, has sparked mass public discourse, so many memes, and a New York Times article for some reason. As a writer for a paper of near if not equal stature, I think it’s high time we gave this important issue the attention it deserves. Most importantly, we need to talk about the victim in all this- there’s not a twist here, it’s still Pete Davidson. I will now explain why Pete Davidson is in the right and if you disagree I don’t really care enough to insult you right now.
The charge against Mr. Davidson levied by Mr. West appears to focus on Mr. Davidson’s decision to date Kim Kardashian, Mr. West’s ex wife, shortly after Ms. Kardashian left Mr. West. It is understandable that Mr. West would be upset about this. Divorces are hard, and most people would prefer not getting divorced to getting divorced. Seeing someone you were in a relationship with dating someone else is also hard. If Mr. West didn’t vacuum the house for a week and drowned his pain in fast food takeout in a lost and hopeless attempt to embrace his role as a middle aged bachelor, he would have earned my and the public’s sympathy. Mr. West did not do this. He instead elected for a public campaign against Ms. Kardashian and Mr. Davidson that is at best a series of comically poor decisions and at worst the reason we made restraining orders a thing. I mean seriously, this guy dressed up as a bush to sneak to his ex wife’s house. Mr. West should’ve saved a few steps and just dressed up like a red flag from the get go.
Mr. West’s war on Mr. Davidson has been specifically waged through the most powerful and destructive weapon in human history. Through a series of quickly deleted Instagram posts that will fortunately live on forever through the power of the screenshot, Mr. West gave Mr. Davidson a new nickname, kicked his friends off Mr. West’s new album, and created a meme comparing the situation to Civil War (to Ye’s credit, he made Mr. Davidson Iron man, which is good because Iron Man was clearly the villain). Mr. West also took to threatening Mr. Davidson through song, with a line on his new album reading “god saved me from the crash just so I could beat Pete Davidson’s ***”.
I am asking what crime Mr. Davidson could’ve possibly committed to invoke the internet rampage that every high school student who got into a fight with a friend dreams of. Mr. Davidson’s offense appears to be a violation of the “bro code,” a largely unwritten set of policies that is meant to define relationships between men, or any two people who can be considered “bros.” Whether Mr. Davidson and Mr. West were ever truly “bros” is beside the point in Mr. West and his adoring fan’s eyes. The mere fact that Ms. Kardashian was married to Mr. West means that without Mr. West’s explicit approval, all other men are to stay far away from her, or the holy bro code is violated. Never mind that Ms. Kardashian has agency of her own, her ability to make decisions on her own is not something that a true bro is concerned with. Having not properly checked with Mr. West that he was allowed to date the woman who Mr. West was actively not dating, Mr. Davidson has fully earned any threats against him, his friends, or Ms. Kardashian.
Back to the real world, I do sincerely wish that whatever issues Mr. West is having, he is able to find a healthy way to work through them. For the time being though, I will fully criticize his harmful and dangerous behavior towards Mr. Davidson. Pete Davidson did nothing wrong.
The Centralizer 