Pete Davidson, Kanye West exchange heated text messages, reports say

In what may be a calculated leak, a friend of comedian Pete Davidson posted and deleted, for no given reason, what he said was a text message exchange between hip-hop artist Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, and Davidson, who is dating Ye's ex-wife Kim Kardashian.

Dave Sirus, a co-writer and co-producer of Davidson's film "The King of Staten Island," posted on Sunday what he called "*A message from Pete*," according to a Google search-result's metadata that also shows at least 7,472 likes and 925 comments before the post was removed.

Newsday could not confirm the veracity of the alleged exchange or of online screengrabs depicting it. Numerous outlets including People magazine and the NBC morning show "Today" have reported on the exchange, while E!, longtime home of the reality-TV series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," said "a source close to Ye" had confirmed its authenticity. Representatives for Ye, Davidson and Sirus did not respond to Newsday requests for comment.

In the screenshots, Davidson, 28, started the conversation with Ye, who has repeatedly criticized Kardashian’s parenting, and who in a recent music video for "Eazy" by himself and rapper The Game depicted a clay-animated Davidson being buried alive and later decapitated.

"Can you please take a second and calm down," Davidson wrote, adding, "Kim is literally the best mother I've ever met. What she does for those kids is amazing and you are so … lucky that she's your kids['] mom. I've decided that I'm not gonna let you treat us this way anymore and I'm done being quiet."

"Oh you['re] using profanity," Ye, 44, responded. "Where are you right now?"

"In bed with your [ex-]wife," Davidson fired back.

"Happy to see you're out [of] the hospital and rehab," Ye riposted.

"Same here," said Davidson, who like Ye has been candid about struggles with mental health. "It's wonders what those places do when you go get help. You should try it." He went on to say, "You don't scare me bro. Your actions are so … embarrassing. It's so sad to watch you ruin [your] legacy on the daily."

"You're more than welcome to come to Sunday Service," said Ye of his primarily invitation-only church service that takes place at various Southern California locations. Davidson suggested they instead meet afterward at the comedian's room at the Beverly Hills Hotel: "Privately one on one. Man to man."

When Ye insisted on Sunday Service, an exasperated Davidson wrote, "This isn't public dude. I'm not here for the pictures and press. Which is obviously all you care about. My offer stands. I wish you'd man up for once in your life," he added, before pivoting to say, "Let me help you … I struggle with mental stuff[,] too. … There's no shame in having a little help."

He concluded by saying, "You have no idea how nice I've been to you despite your actions towards me," and claimed to have prevented his show "Saturday Night Live" "from talking about or making fun of you … I've stopped stand up comedians from doing bits about you. … But if you continue to press me like you have for the past 6 months I'm gonna stop being nice."

Ye has not responded directly, but in an excerpt of an Instagram video he has since removed, and which some on social media have captured, he says, in part, "The boyfriend texts me, antagonizing me, bragging about being in bed with my [ex-]wife."

Reality-TV star and fashion and beauty mogul Kardashian, and 22-time Grammy Award winner Ye, who married in 2014, finalized their divorce on March 2. They have four children: daughters North, 8, and Chicago, 4, and sons Saint, 6, and Psalm, 2.

STAND-UP IN SPACE Jeff Bezos' commercial space-travel initiative Blue Origin announced Monday that Davidson is among the six passengers on the ship's upcoming flight NS-20. Liftoff for this fourth human flight and 20th flight overall for the company's New Shepard program is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on March 23 from Launch Site One in West Texas.

Davidson's fellow passengers are corporate CEO Marty Allen; Marc Hagle, head of Tricor International, and wife Sharon Hagle, founder of the nonprofit SpaceKids Global; college instructor and entrepreneur Jim Kitchen; and Dr. George Nield, president of Commercial Space Technologies.