The writing was on the wall … or Pete Davidson’s skin.
Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson have broken up and called off their engagement, and while fans are still reeling from the split, it might not have been as sudden as it seems. It’s no secret that Grande’s had a hellish year, and while the “Saturday Night Live” star might have been a respite from the turbulence, it wasn’t enough to get her through.
Looking back over the past few weeks, Grande and Davidson may have been dropping clues that their relationship was falling apart.
A warning from Davidson’s tattoo artist
Davidson’s go-to tattoo artist, Jon Mesa, was in charge of covering up the “Set It Up” actor’s tattoo of Cazzie David, so he was wary of inking the comedian with anything Grande-related.
“So I did a huge coverup [adding a forest of trees] … After we were done, I told Pete, ‘Hey, dude, let’s just stop with the girlfriend tats until after [Grande’s] your wife,’” Mesa told The Post in June. “Because relationships come and go, and Pete is a really young man. [But] I think that went in one ear and out the other.”
Davidson deletes social media
He wanted a clean slate. Davidson went into his relationship with Grande with profiles on various social media platforms, including Twitter and Instagram, but in mid-July, he wiped them clean. Deleting pictures of him and Grande together, Davidson immediately sparked breakup rumors that he later had to dispel.
“No there’s nothing wrong. No nothing happened. No there’s nothing cryptic about anything. I just don’t wanna be on Instagram anymore. Or on any social media platform,” Davidson, 24, wrote. He did eventually bring back his Instagram to digitally flirt with Grande but deleted it again after their breakup.
Mac Miller dies
Miller died in early September at the age of 26 after an apparent drug overdose. Grande, who dated the rapper for two years, was left reeling. She immediately turned off comments on her Instagram page and went dark. She eventually broke her silence with a photo of Miller and an emotional video. His death was traumatic for Grande, who began canceling appearances as she grieved.
Grande cancels her “Saturday Night Live” performance
Grande was scheduled to be the performer for the season premiere of the sketch comedy series but canceled at the last minute because of “emotional reasons,” creator Lorne Michaels revealed in a podcast. Kanye West took her place.
Grande and Davidson skip the Emmys
Despite Davidson’s colleagues Colin Jost and Michael Che hosting the television awards, the now-split couple sat out of TV’s biggest night because of Grande’s mourning.
“Given the events of the past couple of years, Ariana is going to take some much-needed time to heal and mend,” her rep explained. “She will be staying close to home and using this period to spend time with her loved ones and work on new music without deadline. She thanks her fans for their understanding.”
While fans may have understood her absence, it didn’t explain Davidson’s choice to cover up his “Dangerous Woman”-inspired tattoo.
Grande tweets about her “tough month”
While Grande had tried to maintain a positive public front in the wake of Miller’s death, she finally showed her true feelings in a Twitter spree that left fans concerned.
In one tweet, Grande retweeted her comment, “everything will be okay,” but this time added, “j f–king k.”
In another, Grande tweeted, “can i pls have one okay day. just one. pls.”
Exhausted, Grande ultimately tweeted, “i’m so tired pls.”
Davidson jokes about breaking up on “Saturday Night Live”
This is awkward. During the Sept. 29 episode of his show, Davidson joked about the fallout of what his breakup with Grande could look like.
“God forbid we split up, she takes half my sneakers,” he said, laughing about their potential prenuptial agreement. “I’m totally comfortable being with a successful woman. I live at her place. She pays, like, 60 grand for rent and all I have to do is stock the fridge … Last night, I switched her birth control with Tic Tacs,” he joked. “I believe in us and all, but you know, I just want to make sure that she can’t go anywhere.”
He also made light of the song she named after him.
“You know, I don’t even get royalties for that ‘Pete Davidson‘ song? Like, if we break up, and we won’t — we will — but we won’t. I’m kidding. But like in 10 years, if God forbid that ever happened, there will be a song called ‘Pete Davidson‘ like playing in speakers at K-Mart and I’ll be working there,” he added.
Davidson goes to a Yankees game without Grande — or his tattoo
Rocky roads ahead. Davidson, alongside Michaels, Steven Spielberg and other A-listers, took in a Yankees game together, but Grande was nowhere to be seen. What was clear, however, was that Davidson had done away with one of his Grande-inspired tattoos. Rather than have her bunny ears and mask tatted on his ink, he had a tattoo artist cover it up with a giant heart. A source told us that it was transformed into ink that matches a heart on Grande’s body.
In what appeared to be an effort to clear up any rumors, Grande shared a video of her backstage at “SNL” with Davidson on her Instagram story.
Grande cancels charity gala performance
Just one day before news would break that Grande and Davidson called it quits, Grande unexpectedly canceled a performance at a charity gala. Her manager, Scooter Braun, admitted he was “frustrated” but said it was “because of things that she’s going through.”
Once it came out that Davidson and the “Sweetener” singer had broken up, fans immediately turned to social media to claim they saw it coming, mourn the relationship or poke fun at Davidson for having to move out of their $16 million apartment. Someone even launched a now-deleted GoFundMe page to raise money for Davidson so that he wouldn’t be homeless.