Deciding to get a tattoo is a big decision because it stays on your body forever unless you go through the painful process of removing it. So, if you’re absolutely, totally sure about that cute or meaningful idea you want to get as a tattoo, make sure it’s something you won’t regret later on. Famous people can teach us a lot about tattoos, even the not-so-great ones they’ve gotten. While there are plenty of awesome celebrity tattoos that can inspire you, here’s a list of things NOT to do based on some famous people’s tattoo mishaps. Helpful tip: If you want a phrase in another language, double-check the spelling to avoid any regrets. You can thank me later!)
Harry Styles
The singer of “Kiwi” wanted to have lyrics from The Temper Trap’s song “Sweet Disposition” as a tattoo on his arm. But he made a little mistake. The band from Australia, The Temper Trap, told Pedestrian TV that the lyrics are “won’t stop to surrender,” but Harry got it as “won’t stop ’till we surrender” by accident. It seems Taylor Swift, reportedly, told Harry the right words, but he didn’t believe her. Later, when Taylor met the band at the ARIA Awards in Sydney, she asked them to write the correct lyrics and sign them. She said it was a gift for her “boyfriend’s birthday” back when they were together.
Zoë Kravitz
The actor from Fantastic Beasts got a tattoo on their shoulder with a special message in Arabic. But, it seems there was a mistake. Instead of saying “Let love rule,” it seems to say “Let the love the rule.” Back in February 2019, a famous tattoo artist, Dr. Woo, posted a picture showing Zoë covering up the Arabic tattoo with a dragonfly design. A news source called Refinery29 said Zoë was probably using laser treatments to slowly remove the original tattoo before covering it up with the dragonfly.
Ed Sheeran
Saoirse Ronan, the actress from Lady Bird, was in Ed Sheeran’s music video for “Galway Girl.” She even helped Ed get a tattoo, but they made a funny mistake on purpose. Instead of “Galway Girl,” his tattoo says “Galway Grill.” Ed pretended like Saoirse made the mistake when she wrote the words on his arm before he got the tattoo. But, she told the truth on The Late Late Show with James Corden. “Ed went on stage like two days after we did it and said I messed up, and it made me look like I can’t spell,” she told the host. “I just want to say we planned it all because we thought it would be cool and funny to spell ‘girl’ as ‘grill’ instead.”
Kat Von D
The makeup vlogger Kat Von D decided to remove a tattoo of her ex-boyfriend Jesse James as a child when they broke up because he wasn’t honest with her. Back in 2012, she tweeted, “I’m beginning the day with tattoo laser removal!”
Kaley Cuoco
Back in 2013, the actress from Big Bang Theory, Kaley Cuoco, changed a tattoo that had her wedding date with her ex-husband Ryan Sweeting after they broke up. She shared a message on Instagram saying, “I’ve learned a lesson for the future – don’t get tattoos of any future wedding dates on your body.”
T-Pain
Back in 2011, the rapper T-pain got a tattoo of the famous Facebook “Like” symbol. Why did he do that? Well, it’s a bit puzzling. He shared a picture of the tattoo on Twitter and said, “I think this one’s pretty cool unless Facebook closes down soon 0_o.” But, he kinda made a little mistake too – there’s no apostrophe in “Don’t.”
Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck just can’t catch a break. The director of the movie “Argo” showed off a huge tattoo on his back in 2016, and people didn’t really like it. His ex-wife Jennifer Garner and his current wife Jennifer Lopez both didn’t hold back from sharing their thoughts on the colorful tattoo. For years, Affleck said the tattoo wasn’t real, but now he’s standing up for it and even making jokes about himself. He mentioned he has “thick skin” after a magazine wrote something mean about his tattoo. Recently, Lopez decided to make Affleck’s tattoo collection better. She said his designs are “bad” and have “too many colors.” So, as a married couple, they got tattoos that match. On their first Valentine’s Day together as a married couple, Lopez got an infinity sign with both their names and Affleck got a simple arrow with their initials.
Drake
Drake has quite a few tattoos that some people might find a bit odd. He has pictures of people he looks up to, like Sade, Aaliyah, and Lil Wayne, as well as family members such as his mom, dad, grandma, uncle, and best friend. But, one tattoo really got fans upset. Back in 2019, the rapper who sang “God’s Plan” got a tattoo showing himself as if he were the fifth member of the Beatles. He did this because he broke their record for having the most songs on the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 chart. But, people didn’t like it much and made fun of his choice.
Ray J
Ray J wanted to show love for his sister Brandy by getting a tattoo of her. The tattoo has a funky picture of Brandy with red eyes. It also says “best friends” on her forehead and “4 ever” on her cheeks in a cool graffiti font. Even though some fans didn’t like the tattoo and called it “awkward” and “spooky,” Ray J stood up for it. He said his tattoo artist has a unique “style” that’s special to them. Ray J did admit that Brandy didn’t like the tattoo at first, but he mentioned that she’s starting to like it more now.
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone tried to be tricky when he covered up tattoos of his wife, Jennifer Flavin, with pictures of his dog from “Rocky” and a leopard with blue eyes. This happened just a few days after Jennifer filed for divorce from the actor. But, it seems the breakup didn’t last as long as the tattoos did. The couple got back together less than a month after Stallone got the new tattoos – not even enough time for the tattoos to heal.
Carrie Ann Inaba
In 2019, Carrie Ann Inaba, a judge on “Dancing With the Stars,” shared a funny story about her tattoo. She got a tattoo on her ankle in Japanese that she thought meant “courageous love.” But later, she found out it actually meant “rough sex.”
