More sad details are coming out about Pete Davidson and Elsie Hewitt‘s split.
As you know, the 32-year-old comedian and 30-year-old model broke up only five months after welcoming their daughter, Scottie. According to RadarOnline, the split shocked Pete’s friend. They thought becoming a father and dating Elsie had finally brought him peace after years of rocky moments in his life. However, they thought wrong. The struggles of new parenthood apparently brought a lot of unresolved trauma from his dad Scott Davidson‘s death in 9/11 to the surface. One insider close to the Saturday Night Live alum explained:
“Losing his father in the 9/11 attacks shaped Pete’s entire emotional world from such a young age, and the people closest to him believe he has never fully recovered from that trauma. There has always been this deep fear inside him that the people he loves are eventually going to disappear, so when relationships start becoming serious, stable and genuinely long-term, it can trigger a huge amount of anxiety for him emotionally.”
2,996 people were murdered in the 9/11 attacks on America, and the number of lives that remain wrecked from the fallout is one so large we’ll never know. Pete, unfortunately, is one of them.
What makes it even more heartbreaking is that Pete genuinely wanted to be a father. That was never the issue. The source expressed:
“Pete talks constantly about wanting the kind of close, loving family unit he missed out on growing up after his dad died, and becoming a father was something he genuinely embraced.”
The second he gets close to someone, though, his self-sabotaging habits tend to come out:
“But at the same time, there’s a self-destructive side to him that struggles to trust happiness or stability when he finally has it. The closer he gets to building a permanent future with somebody, the more those abandonment issues seem to surface, and that can make him pull away or emotionally shut down without even fully realizing he’s doing it.”
Another insider fully agrees, saying he retreats emotionally out of fear of being hurt and abandoned ever since the death of his own dad:
“Pete has a pattern where the moment a relationship stops feeling exciting and starts becoming something real and lasting, he almost instinctively begins retreating emotionally because he’s terrified of being abandoned or devastated again. The closer somebody gets to him, the more vulnerable he feels, and instead of sitting comfortably in that stability, he often starts sabotaging things before the other person has a chance to hurt him first.”
Friends have seen him in this unhealthy pattern, too. The source continued:
“He loves intensely and moves very fast emotionally, which is why his relationships become so serious so quickly, but sustaining that level of intimacy is where things become difficult for him. Friends have watched him build these incredibly passionate connections and then suddenly become overwhelmed by his own insecurities and fears about commitment. A lot of people around him believe the trauma of losing his father so young left him constantly expecting happiness to disappear, so when life actually starts looking settled and secure, it can almost make him panic.”
For Elsie, the situation became too much.
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A different source explained that the Industry actress was growing increasingly exhausted trying to juggle being a first-time mom and needed Pete, but he was nowhere to be found since he pulled away and focused on work:
“Elsie was going through the exhausting emotional and physical reality of being a first-time mother, and there were moments when she really needed Pete present at home for reassurance, stability and hands-on support. Pete absolutely adores Elsie and worships his daughter, but one of the ways he copes with emotional pressure is by burying himself in work and constantly staying busy whenever life starts feeling too intense or emotionally complicated. As the pressure of parenthood grew, he kept throwing himself into stand-up shows, appearances and traveling commitments, partly because providing financially is important to him, but also because work has always been his escape mechanism.”
Although Elsie understands why Pete was away working so much, the distance and lack of support ultimately caused their relationship to collapse:
“Over time, that left Elsie feeling increasingly isolated with the realities of daily motherhood while Pete was constantly moving from one obligation to the next. She understood why he worked so much, but emotionally it still created distance between them at a time when she needed partnership the most.”
Parenting is not easy. It can take a lot out on a person, especially while going through relationship issues with your partner. We really feel for Elsie!
As we said, Pete’s inner circle was surprised by the breakup because they thought he had found the “grounded life” he always desired! Another source shared:
“A lot of Pete’s friends feel like they’ve seen this same emotional cycle play out repeatedly throughout his adult life. He genuinely craves love, stability, and the idea of building a close family unit because those are things he’s always felt were missing after losing his father so young. Becoming a dad meant the world to him, and for a while, people really believed he had found the grounded life he’d always been searching for.”
They continued:
“But there’s also a deeply ingrained part of Pete that almost struggles to trust calmness or emotional security when he finally has it. Chaos, instability, and emotional turbulence are what he became accustomed to growing up, so healthy relationships can sometimes feel unfamiliar or even unsettling to him. The people closest to him think he often mistakes emotional intensity for connection, and once things settle into normal domestic life, his fears and insecurities start creeping back in and pushing him to pull away.”
All this is really sad to hear. Pete has been working so hard on himself for a while, and it breaks our hearts that he is still struggling through the same cycle. That being said, there’s nothing like the force of new parenthood to jolt anyone out of their healing journey. Hopefully the pair can figure things out, even if just as co-parents, for the sake of their daughter.
Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Tell us (below)…
[Image via Elsie Hewitt/Instagram, MEGA/WENN]
