Regrettable Ink: The Worst Celebrity Tattoos
When it comes to celebrities, sometimes they are just like us. These celebrities prove that anyone is capable of making a terrible tattoo decision.
Mandy Moore
Mandy Moore is hitting a new level of success these days by being apart of the amazing This Is Us cast. The show is one of the most popular television programs out there today, and she is currently nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance. Even though this lady is successful, her choices are questionable. Mandy Moore has a tattoo of a sperm on her ankle, which represents her musical career.
While on tour with her band, Mandy Moore shared a bathroom (including a shower) with many of her male band mates. To commemorate that time, Mandy got the sperm tattoo which represents taking a shower in a place where her band would pleasure themselves. Get it? We can't help but squirm about thinking about sperm on Moore's ankles.
Kylie Jenner
Kylie Jenner is the youngest Kardashian/Jenner sister, even though she is widely considered queen bee of the family. Jenner is currently dating Tyga, who is the ex of her brother's fiancee, Blac Chyna. There's some family drama there!
Tyga, who has a huge tattoo of Kylie's name inspired Kylie to get her own relationship tattoo. Kylie was recently seen out with a small "T" tattoo on her ankle. Even though the tattoo is relatively small, the issue with this idea is that Kylie and Tyga have a history of being on again off again. The key rule with tattoos is to never get your significant other's name, just in case.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp is one of the greatest character actors of all time. Even though he has made some great career moves, his tattoo choices haven't been as great. During his relationship with Winona Ryder in the 1990s, Johnny Depp professed his love in a ridiculous way.
Johnny Depp got a "Winona Forever" tattoo on his right arm during their four year relationship. After their tumultuous break up, Johnny changed his tattoo to read, "Wino forever." Even though their relationship ended, Johnny's love for wine will apparently go on forever.
Cheryl
Cheryl's love life is one of the main reasons this singing starlet is so famous today. She has gone from Cheryl Tweedy, to Cheryl Cole after marrying Chelsea super star Ashley Cole. Now, she's back to just being called Cheryl and is a singing canvas.
The former Girls Aloud singer has some interesting ink, including her Buddhist symbol, which is located in the middle of her chest. The ink is the symbol for, "the path to enlightenment," and is a sacred symbol in the Buddhist religion. Even though the message is beautiful, the tattoo's location makes the words seem cheap and disrespected. The path to enlightenment should not be placed directly in Cheryl's cleavage!
Sinead O'Connor
Sinead O'Connor has had a tough time dealing with the reality of being a famous singer. In the 1990's, O'Connor became a one hit wonder and an SNL stunt master when she ripped a picture of the Pope on live television. Sinead's tattoos have also been somewhat shocking, including her face tattoos of the letters "B" and "Q."
The tattoos are said to be in homage of a mystery man in Sinead's life, but they could also represent a drawing on her website. The letters are most likely the initials of Brendan Quinlan, who is speculated to be O'Connor's new beau. Even though the gesture is romantic, the tattoos look incredibly out of place and tacky.
Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant is one of the best ball players out there, but he is also known for his unique fashion and design choices. The Golden State Warrior's player is covered head to toe in tattoos, but one in particular, we think is a giant mistake. Durant's back is covered with a bible quote from the chapter of James, but the word, "mature" was spelled wrong.
Durant posted a picture of his new tattoo on Instagram, and many fans pointed out that mature was spelled, "mautre." The athlete has since updated his tattoo to be correctly spelled and stated in an updated photo, "I got mature spelled the right way lol." Next time Kevin should have someone spell check his requests.
Ed Sheeran
Even though Ed Sheeran's voice is the sound of an angel, his looks are more nerd than stud. So it was surprising when Ed released photos of his new tough guy tattoo. Ed Sheeran's chest is now covered with a giant portrait of an awkward looking massive lion.
Not only does the tattoo feel out of place on the crooner, but the lion itself is relatively lopsided. Ed Sheeran is known for his ginger hair, but also for his touching music. This lion tattoo got some heat from haters who stated that the tattoo made Ed look like a loser and a bit lonely. Sorry Ed, but this lion doesn't look ferocious AT ALL!
Amber Rose
Amber Rose is one of the coolest feminists out there, even though she does have some questionable tattoos. Creator of the Amber Rose Slutwalk, which raises awareness for sexual assault and abuse, Rose is also an avid fighter for educating all gender identities on consent.
Even though her activism is amazing, Rose made a mistake by getting her ex-husband's portrait onto her arm, surrounded by marijuana leaves. The model and activist have a portrait of Wiz Khalifa on her arm, even though the couple is now broken up. The two have a son, Sebastian, together and Rose is very respectful of her ex. These two have a very mutual and friendly relationship.
Ryan Cabrera
Ryan Cabrera's career is over, but his bad decision will last a lifetime. The early 2000's singer-songwriter is most famous for his ballads and for dating The Hill's star Audrina Patridge (and before that Ashlee Simpson). Cabrera's bad tattoo might show his love for famous movie star, Ryan Gosling.
Cabrera has a perfect portrait of Ryan Gosling on his leg, but he says the whole thing wasn't even his idea. Cabrera told press, "[My friends] like to play a game called tattoo roulette. We blindfold each other. 'You get to pick a tattoo for me, and I get to pick a tattoo for you. And you don't get to see it till they're both done.'" That might be the worst idea for a game.
Jennifer Lawrence
Recently, Jennifer Lawrence has been making headlines for doing some pretty stupid things. On British television show The Graham Norton Show, Lawrence told a story about how she displaced sacred rocks in Hawaii with her butt by rubbing herself on them. Not only is that incredibly disrespectful, but Lawrence was also ignorant to the fact of how rude she was being while telling the story.
Lawrence's bad decisions also include her hand tattoo, which spells, "H2O." The actor revealed that while hanging out with Liam Hemsworth's family, everyone was getting tattoos, so she felt pressured to participate as well. Lawrence stated, "I'm always going to need to be hydrated, so I guess I should just get H2O on my hand."
Ellie Goulding
Ellie Goulding is a British singer and songwriter whose hits are loved by all. Goulding's tattoo decisions though have not been hits at all. Goulding and her boyfriend Dougie Poynter celebrated their love for each other by getting matching tattoos together.
Their action is adorable, but their tattoos are anything but. The singer and her man got matching skull and crossbones on their middle fingers. The tattoos look over the top and are also way too soon. The couple isn't even engaged, and they are already making a lifetime commitment to be pirates together? Doesn't make any sense.
Ke$ha
Ke$ha has had a very tough time recently. The singer/artist has been in a lawsuit with her producer Dr. Luke to end her contract with him, due to sexual assault and forcible sex claims. Dr. Luke has also been accused of forcing Ke$ha to drink and do drugs to complete her party-girl image. During her party girl time with Dr. Luke in the late 2000s, the singer got an inner mouth tattoo.
Not only is this gross, but the tattoo itself is the words, "suck it." The tattoo proves that Ke$ha was being forced to act like a party girl to gain fans, even though she didn't necessarily want that. Ke$ha is a prime example of what can happen to young females in the music industry.
Cara Delevingne
Cara Delevingne is a famous model, actress, and funny girl tomboy. But, sometimes Delevingne's over the top humor can leave fans scratching their heads. The Suicide Squad star's foot tattoo is just of the word, "bacon." The bacon addict tattoo isn't just weird, and not really that funny, but it was also incredibly painful.
The tattoo is located on the base of Delevingne's foot which is the worst and most painful place to receive a tattoo. This is because there is no fat underneath the skin and the nerve endings are extremely prevalent. Why would anyone go through all that pain for a tattoo of a word you won't even see?
T-Pain
T-Pain is one over the top rapper, even when it comes to his tattoo preference. T-Pain took some inspiration from Facebook and social media for his inner arm tattoo. The tattoo features a Facebook "Like" button with the caption, "You don't have to like me." Not only is this tattoo incredibly cliche' now, but imagine what people will think of it in five years.
As the Facebook fad passes, this Millennial tattoo will get less and less funny. T-Pain tweeted a picture of his new tattoo with the caption, "I get a tatt every time I come to Hawaii. I think this one's pretty sweet, unless Facebook shuts down soon." The singer added a shock face emoji to the tweet to prove how serious he was. We hope Mark Zuckerberg and everyone at Facebook likes T-Pain's marketing!
Kat Von D
It's surprising that tattoo artist Kat Von D would make such a big and awful tattoo mistake. The tattoo artist and makeup guru got the dreaded tattoo of her ex-boyfriend.
Kat Von D has a tattoo of her ex Jesse James on her body, but not a recent photo. The portrait is of a 10-year-old James, which is incredibly creepy and awkward. The portrait is of a boy going through puberty on a grown woman's body. The portrait is now even more awkward because the LA Ink star and James are now broken up, due to James' adultery.
Kelly Osbourne
Kelly Osbourne is always breaking boundaries and inventing style trends. But this tattoo is just plain strange. Osbourne's tattoo is on the side of her head and can be seen when her hair is shaved in the style of an undercut. The tattoo itself says, "stories" and is just in plain text.
The tattoo isn't necessarily meaningful or beautiful. Osbourne is known for her tattoo mistakes, including her awful keyboard tattoo. The only good thing about this tattoo is that when Osbourne's hair grows out, the awful "stories" text will be covered.
Harry Styles
Harry Styles is one hunky dude, but when it comes to his tattoos, the artist has made some mistakes. The One Direction singer revealed that his foot tattoos say the lyrics to the George Michael classic song, "Careless Whisper."
The tattoo states, "Never gonna dance again," and are written in simple plain text. The tattoo seemed foolish at the time, but now are a reminder of the great artist George Michael, who recently passed away. Styles went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and explained, "I just like them," when talking about his tattoos. Styles is true to himself, even if his choices are questionable.
Gucci Mane
Gucci Mane has made news by being released from jail, getting arrested, going to rehab, and for his interesting ink choices. After the rapper was released from a psychiatric unit, Gucci Mane celebrated by getting a tattoo of an ice cream cone on his face.
The star's tattoo covers his entire right cheek and is three scoops of ice cream. Not only will the rapper regret getting this childhood treat on his face, but also because the tattoo looked like it really hurt. The tattoo is also accompanied by the words, "Brr" with red lightning bolts. This skin art just looks like sheer regret.
Megan Fox
Megan Fox is insanely gorgeous and a hands down babe. Even though this drop dead gorgeous starlet is a Hollywood A-lister, her tattoos sometimes don't make sense. Fox has a tattoo on her back with the words, "We will all laugh at gilded butterflies." The quote is from Shakespeare's King Lear and is a quote to represent moving on, or being joyful in the end.
Even though the quote is rather beautiful, the text the tattoo is inked in is ugly. The tattoo looks too old for the young beauty, and it simply looks out of place. Most people don't even understand what Shakespeare was trying to say, making this tattoo more confusing than relatable.
David Beckham
David Beckham is a hottie, hands-down, even though he can't spell. The former English professional footballer tried to show love for his wife, Victoria Beckham, by getting a tattoo of her name. Beckham's tattoo is in Sanskrit, which is beautiful, but there's only one problem.
The tattoo meant to say Victoria, but instead says "Vihctoria." Even though the mistake is only noticeable for someone who reads Sanskrit, it's still there. Good thing the tattoo's text is still aesthetically beautiful. Anything David Beckham does is AMAZING anyways, right? The soccer star also is covered with 40 other tattoos, including two full sleeves. His most intricate tattoo is his angel tattoo, which covers his right bicep.
Justin Bieber
We've all seen Justin Bieber make some questionable life decisions and his tattoos are no exception. He and actress Selena Gomez famously dated throughout the early 2010s, so it's no surprise that the Biebs got ink in Gomez's honor. But of course, the couple split for good by 2015, leaving him with a reminder of Gomez on his wrist.
In a 2016 shoot with GQ, Bieber explains his tattoo and when he comes upon the one of Gomez he says, "Uh, this is my ex-girlfriend. So I kinda try to cover her face up with some shading, but people still know." Bieber didn't really have to go through all that in the long run since the couple reportedly reconciled and are back together as of 2017.
Kaley Cuoco
The Big Bang Theory actress Kaley Cuoco is one example of why you shouldn't really rush into things. In 2013, Cuoco announced her engagement to tennis player Ryan Sweeting and subsequently tattooed the wedding's date in Roman numerals on her back in all the excitement. After two almost two years of marriage, however, Cuoco sought a divorce from Sweeting, which was finalized by 2016.
Two months after the divorce announcement, Cuoco covered the tattoo of her nuptials with a "deep, meaningful" coverup of an insect. On her Instagram, she wrote, "note to self- do not mark your body with any future wedding dates."
Nicole Richie
Reality-television-star-turned-fashion-designer Nicole Richie has plenty of regrettable ink, including a tattoo on the back of her neck of a pink bow with her last name underneath. Riche told Into the Gloss, "I was a 19-year-old idiot when I got this tattoo on the back of my neck."
It seems that Richie made terrible tattoo decisions as a teen since she also got what she refers to as a "butt-crack cross" when she was 16 years old. She allegedly decided to place the ink there so her parents would see, but in recent years has reportedly had the "tramp stamp" removed.
Adam Levine
When Maroon 5's Adam Levine takes his shirt off, much to the delight of fans, you can see a plethora of tattoos that cover his torso. As artistic as they all are, Levine does have regrets about some of them. "I have one that's pretty stupid," Levine told Anderson Cooper in 2012.
Inspired by tattoos that Russian prisoners had, Levine got one on his right should but wasn't very impressed with the results. Instead of covering it up, Levine tried to embellish it but said it got worse saying, "it looks kind of like a cauliflower with a sun in the middle of it. It's just despicable-looking."
Demi Lovato
Pop singer Demi Lovato is known for all the ink on her body but has gone on the record once admitting that she regrets getting 12 tattoos before her twenties. Lovato has referred to the tattoo of her friend's lips on her left forearm as a "spur of the moment, stupid decision," on LIVE! With Kelly and Michael in 2012.
Lovato has gone on to say, "I've thought about [getting the tattoos removed] before because, you know, when I get older I don't know if I want to have 'rock and roll' on my middle finger. But I'm young and I can rock it now. When I get older, I can worry about it later."
Megan Fox
Yes, she made the list again. Although there's no word on whether she regrets the unsightly Shakespeare quote on her back, she did have qualms about a Marilyn Monroe tattoo on her right forearm in recent years, which she took measures to actually remove.
In 2012, Fox appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, where she said, "I was stubborn and thought that I was going to love it forever, or that it would be like a book of my life, all the things that I loved when I was young. It's not that way at all."
Melanie Griffith
Actress Melanie Griffith married actor Antonio Banderas in the mid-'90s and to seal their love, Griffith got a heart tattoo bearing Antonio's name on her right arm. Unfortunately, the couple split in 2014 and since then, Griffith began the process of removing the tattoo in honor of her third husband.
The tattoo, which honestly seemed out of place to begin with, began slowly fading away in every paparazzi photo taken of Griffith since the announcement of her divorce. Fortunately, the tattoo was pretty much gone by 2015 and Griffith and Banderas share an amicable relationship as they have one daughter together.
Blake Shelton
The Voice judge Blake Shelton has an interesting tattoo on his left forearm. The tattoo is supposed to be deer tracks surrounded by barbed wire, but Shelton himself admitted that the tattoo didn't come out how he expected.
"I can't blame it on the tattoo guy because I had been drinking on this occasion... I drew him a deer track and he just went to the copier and laid a copy and slapped it on there and that's what I drew," Shelton told Access' Michelle Beadle in 2013. Saying that he thinks the tracks look like Sugar Smacks or coffee beans, he only made it worse by adding the barbed wire.
Tom Arnold
As we've already seen, people will do some pretty desperate things in ink all in the name of love. This is exactly what actor Tom Arnold did in 1994 when his marriage to Rosanne Barr was failing. "In a last ditch effort to save his marriage," according to TMZ, Arnold tattooed Barr's face on his chest. He has since had it removed, but that's not the only dumb ink that Arnold has.
Arnold also has Chinese characters on his leg which he thought meant "love of mankind," but apparently actor Jet Li told him it means "man love."
Angelina Jolie
We're sure you're surprised to see Angelina Jolie on this list since she is known to have some pretty cool tattoos. However, we can't let her former Billy Bob tattoo slide. When she married actor Billy Bob Thornton in 2000, Jolie got his name and a dragon underneath tattooed on her arm.
Of course, her marriage to Billy Bob did not last. Jolie has reportedly admitted once, "I'll never be stupid enough to have a man's name tattooed on me again." She has since had the tattoo removed and covered the area with a cooler tattoo of the coordinates of all her children's birthplaces.
Adrienne Bailon
Adrienne Bailon, co-host of The Real and former Disney Cheetah Girl, definitely has some regrettable ink. When Bailon famously dated Rob Kardashian, she got his name tattooed on her bottom.
Bailon actually got the tattoo removed on television, telling Extra in 2014, "I have my ex-boyfriend's name on my bottom. Not my favorite tattoo and that's the one I definitely want to get removed. I am excited... more than anything. I think I've waited for a very long time, long enough, to have this officially gone... For me, I feel like getting the tattoo was painful and I think living the last six years with somebody's name on your body is a little weird and that's a bit more painful."
Hayden Panettiere
It's ironic that actress Hayden Panettiere got the phrase "live without regrets" in Italian tattooed on her rib cage because the actress did end up regretting the ink. Unfortunately, what was meant to be a meaningful and inspirational tattoo was ruined because it was misspelled.
As a result, Panettiere began the tattoo removal process in 2013. She told Glamour in 2013 that the tattoo was inspired by a lesson from her father: "It's Italian... So my tattoo means 'Live without regrets.' It's not that you don't regret things in life, but you at least try to learn from them. It's misspelled too, so I literally have to live by that advice!"
Steve-O
While some might consider it pretty awesome, we think that Steve-O's back tattoo is a bit questionable. The wild actor has a portrait of himself tattooed on his back with "Yeah dude, I rock!" and his signature at the bottom. This isn't just your normal portrait tattoo either. Steve-O's portrait is huge and takes up most of his back!
Although he reportedly knows a lot of his tattoos are stupid, we can't say for sure that Steve-O regrets his back tattoo. A little narcissistic? Yes, but at least it makes him happy. One thing's for sure, it is a pretty hilarious tattoo.
Mike Tyson
When you first see it, you might think that Mike Tyson's face tattoo is pretty bad — primarily for the fact that it's on his face. But the infamous tattoo has only added to the icon that Tyson already is.
Tyson doesn't regret the tattoo either, telling Sports Illustrated in 2016, "A lot of stuff happened out of this tattoo, a lot of good stuff. Other young athletes come to me and said, 'It's because of you they call it the Mike Tyson.' People have to register their tattoos. You have to have the likeness of your tattoo."
Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling has a bad tattoo on his arm and it's only bad, well, because nobody really knows what it is. Gosling reportedly made the tattoo himself because other tattoo artists refused to do "bad tattoos."
He reportedly said, "One of my tattoos is supposed to be a monster's hand dropping a bloody heart but I did it myself with a tattoo kit so it looks like a cactus." As for regrets, Gosling has also allegedly said, "A tattoo should never be meaningful, because at a certain point you're going to hate it, and it might as well make you laugh."
Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt has had some questionable ink on his lower back. When paparazzi got shots of the ink, many people were perplexed about what it could mean, with some guesses that it was the first map of the New Orleans Levee System.
However, you'd be surprised to find out that the tattoo was actually just some of Angelina Jolie's scribbles! Jolie reportedly explained, "One night we didn't have anything to do, so I was drawing on his back... He just liked it! The picture everybody saw was kind of awkward, but it just lines up beautifully on his back, just enhances the part of the body I like."
David Beckham
Although many will argue that David Beckham's tattoos only make him sexier, there is some ink on his body that we can't just help but question. Beckham has his first son Brooklyn's name tattooed on his lower back. While it is perfectly normal to get ink in honor of your children, we do think it's a little awkward that Beckham decided to tattoo the name where he did.
After all, that area has a bad reputation for tattoo placement since many people call tattoos in that area "tramp stamps." Usually, tramp stamps are pretty trashy, but considering that Brooklyn's name isn't meant to be, we suppose we'll let this one slide.
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg used to have a "bad boy" reputation, but in recent years has been establishing himself as a well-rounded actor. Of course, with his image change, Wahlberg felt that he needed to remove his tattoos, including the huge tattoo of his initials on his right shoulder.
With He told Matt Lauer in 2012, "[The tattoos] all have meaning to me, but you know it's both personal and professional. I don't want to have my kids getting tattoos... I'm taking my two oldest kids with me to the procedure, where they can see how painful that is."
David Beckham
Yes, he made the list again. This time David Beckham should have learned from Hayden Panettiere's mistake and veered away from getting anything written in a different language on his body. But low and behold, Beckham bears ink that is embarrassingly misspelled.
He got wife Victoria's name written on his forearm in Hindi script, except there is one minor problem. According to anyone who speaks Hindi, the script actually spells out "Vihctoria" with an added letter h. Beckham apparently got the tattoo in Hindi, since he thought getting it in English would be "tacky." Luckily, no one will really notice this mistake unless they actually speak and read Hindi.
Iggy Azalea
Australian singer Iggy Azalea has also had her fair share of tattoo regrets. When she was dating rapper A$AP Rocky, she got "live," "love," and "ASAP" tattooed on her middle, ring, and pinky fingers. Of course, their relationship didn't last so Azalea had to get the tattoo lasered off.
The singer publicly addressed her regret when she tweeted in 2015, "It's all fun & games getting dumb [expletive] tatted under the premise youll 'just get it lasered off when im older' until u actually have to do it." Of the removal process, Azalea told a fan, "you get an injection for pain first. it's the blistering after that's bad."
