Kimye is dead. Long live … Kardavidson?
After setting New York City, Southern California and even Staten Island alight, Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson are this month’s most unlikely pairing.
But insiders insist this is no “showmance” — a relationship faked for publicity, perhaps so Kim could steal her thunder back from sister Kourtney Kardashian and her new fiancé Travis Barker, or as a plot-line for the Kardashians’ new Hulu show.
“This is not a stunt,” a source within the Kardashian camp told The Post. “Kim doesn’t need to do that, that’s not her style. There’s plenty of other things she could do to get attention.
“It’s super early, but there’s interest from both sides. The hard thing is putting a label on whatever this is.”
What’s clear is that, after splitting from husband Kanye West in February after nearly seven years of marriage, mom-of-four Kardashian is ready to get back out on the dating scene.
“All Kim’s friends are supporting this,” said the Kardashian source. “I know that her friends think the world of [Davidson]. They think he’s funny and charming. And she’s definitely at a point where she’s ready to get out there to see people.
“I think there’s actually some relief that she’s torn the band-aid off and she’s dating again.”
Still, there is no denying that the match has left some scratching their heads.
Another friend of Kardashian said: “I think a lot of us are like, ‘What the f—k?’ But you know, she’s happy!”
Kardashian, 41, shared a kiss with Davidson, 27, when she hosted “Saturday Night Live” last month and she played Princess Jasmine to Davidson’s Aladdin in a skit.
However, the Kardashian camp source said, that’s not where the romance took off. “I know that nothing happened that week. Kim was focusing on her work that week at SNL, and they didn’t really interact. There were rumors that she asked for his number, but that’s not true.
“They got closer when Pete went to LA later last month and they went out with mutual friends … they have run into each other before, Pete is good friends with Travis, they’re really close.”
The rumor mill has been speculating what on earth is going on ever since the pair were spotted holding hands on a roller coaster during an Oct. 29 visit to Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, Calif.
Then, on Nov. 2, Davidson whisked Kardashian off to his hometown of Staten Island for dinner at Campania — one of the comedian’s favorite spots — where, a restaurant source told Page Six, “Pete arranged a dinner on the rooftop privately … it was just the two of them.”
The pair arrived without any security. “They quietly were able to sneak in and out,” the source added.
The Skims founder and the comedian then hit up Zero Bond — an A-List members-only club in Manhattan — Wednesday night before she returned to LA Thursday.
A source who observed the pair — who were joined at Zero Bond by friends including Simon Huck and his fiancé, Phil Riportella, as well as Jonathan Cheban — told Page Six: “They were smiling and laughing a lot and seemed genuinely affectionate with each other.
“But there was no Kravis-style PDA,” the insider added, referencing Kim’s sister Kourtney Kardashian and her fiancé Travis Barker’s hot-and-heavy antics.
As for Davidson, who has romanced a string of stunning celebrity woman including Kate Beckinsale, Ariana Grande, Margaret Qualley and, most recently, “Bridgerton” beauty Phoebe Dynevor, a friend said: “Kim and Pete known each other for years, but this is very new and they are getting to know each other in real time.”
Davidson, who has openly discussed his mental health struggles and was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in 2017, has admitted that he can be too much for his girlfriends, telling Paper magazine in November 2019: “My love language, when I’m in a relationship, is I treat the person I’m with like a princess.
But he added that his tendency to love hard doesn’t always work in his favor.
“Sometimes when you put so much on someone, it overwhelms them, and then they don’t know if they could come close to that. Or if they can keep up with it,” he said. “So, it’s very off-putting to some … It’s something I had to learn in a past relationship, which sucked to learn through that person, but it makes you better.”
Insiders say that’s what happened with model Kaia Gerber, the 20-year-old daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, when she and Davidson dated in late 2019.
“It got very overwhelming for Kaia,” one family friend said at the time: “Pete has a certain M.O. and he’s very intense to his girlfriends. Kaia is only 18 and it’s a lot to deal with.”
And another Gerber family source told The Post this week: “[Davidson] just seems to go from celeb to celeb to celeb to get press. I would tell Kim to be careful.”
But the Kardashian family source doesn’t see Kardashian getting serious anytime soon.
“Kardashian is busy with her brand — her Fendi Skims range launches this week — and she’s still studying for the apprenticeship program for a law degree in the State of California,” the source said. “Kim’s a pretty positive person, she’s a happy person, she has a lot going on. She’s just out to have some fun.”