EXCLUSIVE: Pete Davidson 'Locked in Desperate Fight-Back' Against Deadbeat Dad Claims — After His Ex Elsie Hewitt Claims She's Raising Their Daughter Totally Solo
Pete Davidson denied claims he abandoned parenting responsibilities.
May 26 2026, Published 3:56 p.m. ET
is said to be battling to contain a growing public relations storm after ex-girlfriend Elsie Hewitt suggested she has been raising their baby daughter largely alone, triggering intense online backlash and accusations the comedian is trying to fight off a damaging "deadbeat dad" narrative.
As RadarOnline.com reported, the 32-year-old actor and comedian – known for Saturday Night Live, The King of Staten Island and the semi-autobiographical series Bupkis – began dating model Elsie Hewitt, 30, last year before the couple announced they were expecting a child only months into their relationship.
Pete Davidson 'Devastated' By Deadbeat Dad Claims
Comedian Pete Davidson faced a massive public relations storm over his ex.
Friends later claimed the pair split around five months after the birth of their daughter, Scottie.
Attention on the pair has now intensified after Hewitt posted on social media she was "doing (motherhood) on my own, which is hard," fueling speculation over Davidson's involvement in parenting and prompting insiders close to the comedian to push back strongly against the portrayal.
Sources familiar with the fallout tell us Davidson's camp has gone into "crisis-control mode" amid fears the allegations could seriously damage his reputation.
One insider said: "Pete has been devastated by how quickly public opinion has turned against him, and people in his inner circle believe the narrative online has become wildly exaggerated. They feel a handful of carefully worded social media comments have snowballed into this damaging image of him as an absent father, which those close to him strongly reject. According to friends, Pete is frustrated because they insist there is a huge gap between what is being implied publicly and what has actually been happening privately.
"There is definitely a sense of panic among people around him because they know accusations like this can stick, especially on social media, where nuance disappears almost instantly. His camp has effectively shifted into damage-limitation mode, with sources speaking out and leaking his side of the story because they are desperate to push back against the idea that he has abandoned his daughter or stopped supporting Elsie. The feeling among his friends is that Pete is being unfairly painted as the villain in a very complicated breakup."
Friends Fear 'Deadbeat Dad' Label Will Stick
Davidson's inner circle shifted into damage-limitation mode this week.
Another source added: "Everyone around Pete knows this situation has turned into a full-blown image crisis because the internet tends to decide very quickly who the hero and villain are in celebrity breakups. Once the 'deadbeat dad' label started circulating online, people close to him became extremely concerned about how damaging it could be both personally and professionally. That is why there has suddenly been a wave of insiders speaking out about his reaction – they are trying to get ahead of the backlash and show there is another side to the story.
"Friends say Pete has been deeply wounded by the accusations because he genuinely believed he was stepping up privately, even if he was not broadcasting every detail publicly. They insist he has been emotionally invested in his daughter from the beginning and that fatherhood was something he took incredibly seriously because of his own childhood experiences. According to people around him, seeing himself portrayed online as some uncaring or absent parent has been crushing, particularly because becoming a dad represented such an important emotional milestone in his life."
The insider also said Davidson and Hewitt's relationship had struggled long before their daughter was born.
They added: "From what people close to Pete and Elsie could see, the breakdown in the relationship was not caused by their daughter or disagreements over loving or caring for the baby. The cracks were already there long before things finally unraveled publicly. Pete and Elsie apparently had very different personalities, lifestyles, and ways of dealing with pressure, and those tensions slowly became harder to ignore as the relationship progressed.
"Once they became parents, the emotional strain intensified dramatically because suddenly they were trying to balance sleepless nights, demanding careers and constant public scrutiny all at the same time. Friends say the situation became overwhelming, and small disagreements started turning into much bigger issues. There was still genuine affection between them, but the combination of stress, exhaustion and life in the spotlight created an atmosphere where the relationship eventually stopped functioning in a healthy way."
Childhood Trauma Made Fatherhood Deeply Personal
Firefighter Scott Davidson died during the September 11 terror attacks
Friends of Davidson have repeatedly said fatherhood was something he had always wanted, particularly because of the impact of losing his own father, New York firefighter Scott Davidson, who died aged 33 during the September 11 attacks.
Davidson has openly discussed how that trauma shaped both his personal life and comedy career, including in his flick The King of Staten Island.
One source close to Davidson said: "People who have known Pete for years say becoming a father was never something he viewed casually or treated like just another stage of adulthood. Because he lost his own dad at such a young age, there has always been this deep emotional weight attached to the idea of family and parenthood for him. Friends say he spoke many times about wanting to give his child the kind of stability, support, and presence he missed growing up after the death of his father.
"That is why the current backlash has reportedly affected him so deeply on a personal level. According to those around him, being portrayed publicly as detached or uninvolved cuts directly into one of his biggest emotional insecurities. They say Pete feels these accusations are especially painful because fatherhood represented something profoundly meaningful to him emotionally, not just privately but as a way of breaking cycles connected to his own childhood trauma."
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The comic actor ended his celebrity engagement to singer Ariana Grande.
The controversy has also renewed concern among some fans over Davidson's long history of mental health and addiction struggles.
The comedian has previously spoken publicly about PTSD, depression, borderline personality disorder and substance abuse, while several of his past breakups coincided with difficult periods in his life.
Following the end of his engagement to singer Ariana Grande in 2018, Davidson disturbingly wrote on Instagram: "I really don't want to be on this earth anymore. I'm doing my best to stay here for you but I actually don't know how much much longer I can last."
