Remember when “big dick energy” was the only thing anyone could talk about? The phrase exploded into pop culture unannounced, and it pretty much reached its peak during Pete Davidson’s whirlwind romance with Kim Kardashian. While plenty of people joked about how Davidson wasn’t exactly conventionally attractive, the running gag was that he exuded major Big Dick Energy. It all probably started in 2018, when ex-fiance Ariana Grande fanned the flames by hinting on X that her man was packing ten inches. Whether that tweet was real or not, it sparked an internet frenzy that never really let Davidson escape the narrative.
But while it may have looked like harmless fun, Davidson says the attention was actually humiliating.
The comedian opened up about it on The Breakfast Club podcast last week, explaining how his dating life made things awkward during his early years on Saturday Night Live. “I brought a lot of pop culture into the show and I made it sort of a tabloid-y, trendy thing and I was embarrassed by it,” he said. “Nobody talked about any of the work I was doing, they were like, ‘Oh that’s the fuck stick.’ That hurt. After a year or two, everybody [on the cast] saw how sad and embarrassed I was…nobody was ever outright mean, but it was sort of like…”
When Charlamagne tha God pressed him on why he would feel embarrassed, pointing out that Davidson was “banging a lot of chicks and had a 10-inch penis,” the comic admitted that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. “On paper, that sounds great,” he said. “But it’s embarrassing. Because it’s Hollywood — everybody fucks everyone. Everyone dates everyone. Why are they focusing on me? I’m not Glen Powell handsome. I’m just a dude who tells dick jokes that is a drug addict. It had nothing to do with comedy. But also, that stuff affects relationships…I don’t want to victimise myself in any way — because I’m cool — but the sexualization of me … If [I] was a girl, there would be a march for it. Seriously. You’re talking about my dick all day? People do that on the Internet to, like, Sydney Sweeney or whoever, [but] there’s no radio hosts or news people…they don’t talk about girls like [that in major media outlets]. [This] was professional. It was pointed out in the street.”
Davidson went on to explain that his so-called “tragic nightmare” began when the press coined the phrase “big dick energy” to explain why he was dating Grande — who he admitted people thought was way out of his league. “Somebody confirmed it,” he recalled, though he added he “didn’t know” if Grande’s 10-inch claim was even accurate.
Over the years, brands tried to capitalise on his reputation, pitching sponsorship deals that leaned into the jokes. “Like ‘big dick sandwiches,’” Davidson said, adding that he turned them down — until earlier this year, when women’s fashion brand Reformation tapped him as their “Official Boyfriend” in a cheeky campaign featuring the comedian lounging in underwear.
For Davidson, the whole saga shows the uncomfortable double standards in media coverage. What was once seen as a quirky pop culture joke became, in his words, “professional” and unavoidable — and while he admits he doesn’t want to victimise himself, he’s clear on one thing: being defined by “big dick energy” wasn’t nearly as fun for him as it was for everyone else.
