Dating Kim Kardashian has come with one major challenge for boyfriend Pete Davidson, and that is the wrath of her ex-husband Kanye West. The Saturday Night Live star’s good friend Jon Stewart says that Pete is “doing as best” as possible to navigate the “explosive” situation.

During a Tuesday, March 22, appearance on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM radio show, the former Daily Show host explained, “I think he’s doing as best you can in that situation when you’re dealing with something that’s so explosive and loaded, with all kinds of other things.”

“He’s just a kid trying to live his life. [He’s] one of my favorite people,” Jon said of Pete, adding, “He’s just a smart, funny kid trying to live his life.”

Pete and Kim began dating in late October 2021 after meeting earlier that month when she hosted SNL. Romantic dinner dates turned into a full-blown relationship, which set off her ex Kanye, whom she filed for divorce from in February 2021. A judge declared Kim legally single in a March 2, 2022, ruling after she requested the status from the court.

Kanye has attacked Pete online and in song. When he dropped the tune “Eazy” in January, he called out the comedian directly with the bars, “God saved me from this crash / Just so I can beat Pete Davidson’s ass.” When the rapper released the music video for the song in early March, it featured a claymation version of Kanye kidnapping and decapitating a figure that looked just like Pete. 

The “Stronger” rapper has been coming at Pete online, referring to him by the nickname “Skete” and calling him a “d—ckhead” in a February 13, 2022, Instagram post. In another, he asked fans, “IF ANYONE LOVES ME AND MY FAMILY IF YOU SEE SKETE IN REAL LIFE SCREAM AT THE [LOSER] AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS AND SAY KIMYE FOREVER.”

Kim became terrified of the rhetoric towards her boyfriend, texting Kanye and asking him to stop it out of fear that someone would harm Pete. Kanye shared the text on his Instagram account on February 14, as Kim allegedly wrote, “U are creating a dangerous and scary environment and someone will hurt Pete and this will all be your fault.” Kanye wrote in the caption, “UPON MY WIFE’S REQUEST PLEASE NOBODY DO ANYTHING PHYSICAL TO SKETE IM GOING TO HANDLE THE SITUATION MYSELF.”

Kanye has since scaled back his online rhetoric towards the King of Staten Island star, who publicly called Kim his “girlfriend” for the first time on February 7. The Skims founder made her romance with Pete Instagram official to her 294 million followers on March 11, with two adorable photos she shared of the couple showing off PDA. “I have the cutest pictures of us, and I want to be like, ‘Oh my god, we’re so cute!’” Kim explained to talk show host Ellen DeGeneres later that week about why Pete finally appeared on her page after five months of dating.