This article was originally published on TVBee
It's no secret that for the world's biggest celebrities, there's a whole team involved behind the scenes to achieve the perfect look when they walk a red carpet or do a photoshoot. However, when it comes to decorating their bodies with permanent ink, celebrities are mostly on their own, and the results sometimes do prove that money - or fame - can't buy taste. Here is a look of some of the bad, the ugly, and the cringey of celebrity tattoos (and you'll be surprised by some of their owners).
T-Pain's Like Button Tattoo
The rapper has got the 'like' Facebook button tattooed on his arm, with the statement 'you dont have to like me' (and yes, the 'don't' is missing an apostrophe).
T-Pain reported that he got the tattoo in Hawaii, tweeting: "I get a tatt every time I come to Hawaii. I think this ones pretty sweet, unless facebook shuts down soon".
Ariana Grande's Kanji Japanese Tattoo
Last year the singer found herself in a bit of a misspelling drama: She first got what she thought was a Japanese translation of 7 Rings, her hit single, tattooed on her palm. Unfortunately, things got lost in translation and the tattoo actually said 'shichirin', which is a Japanese barbecue grill.
She then attempted to correct the mistake with another tattoo session, but another mistake led to her new tattoo saying 'Japanese BBQ finger' instead.
Zosia Mamet's Heart Tattoo
Although this tattoo looks a bit like a kid's pen drawing, this Girls star's tattoo is in fact very real. Mamet explained that she wanted to get a heart tattoo, but in order for it to not look too "cheesy", decided to place it on her palm.
"And I like the sentiment that when you shake someone’s hand it's with your heart," she said. Makes sense.
Cara Delevingne's Bacon Tattoo
The supermodel has more than two dozen tattoos, with some being more bizarre than others. In 2014 she got the word 'bacon' tattooed on her foot.
When asked by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel if the tattoo is an homage to artist Francis Bacon, Delevingne replied: "Anything bacon is good, am I right? I think so. It's bacon colored—it's maroon, also. The 'dot, dot, dot'—it's an open-ended statement, it's not a question. It's just however you want to take it."
Nicole Richie's Virgin Tattoo
The fashionista had the word "virgin" tattooed on her wrist when she was 16, to symbolize her star sign, virgo. And according to her, getting it is "her biggest regret".
It's embarrassing and desperate," she told E! News. "Now, I am a Virgo so when I was 16 I thought, 'Ooh I'm going to be different and I'm going to put virgin, because the Virgin is the sign for Virgo... So [now] I'm just stuck."
Steve-O's Tattoo of Himself
Steve Glover, aka Steve-O, is known for his crazy stunts and just as crazy tattoos.
The Jackass star has got 30 tattoos, one of them a larger than life portrait of himself, giving two thumbs up, tattooed on his back - along with his signature at the bottom, and the wording 'Yeah dude I rock'.
Pink's Barcode Tattoo
Pink's got at least 17 tattoos, and according to the singer they all have emotional significance to her.
The barcode tattoo on the back of her neck includes important dates in the singer's life: her birthday (September 8, 1979), the release date of her breakthrough album, Missundaztood ( November 20, 2001), and her lucky number - 13.
Johnny Depp's Scum Tattoo
Depp's knuckle tattoo initially said 'Slim' - his nickname for wife Amber Heard - which he got after he married the actress in 2015. However, after the couple divorced he changed the inking to 'Scum', and later - to 'Scam'.
This is not the time Depp changes a tattoo dedicated to a partner - he changed his 'Winona Forever' tattoo to 'Wino Forever' after his breakup from Winona Ryder in the early 90s.
Soulja Boy's Face Tattoos
The rapper got his first face tattoo when he was 16 years old and kept getting more over the years. By 2020 he had, among others, the Gucci logo on his forehead, three teardrops below his right eye, and the phrase "Rich Gang" on his cheek.
In July 2020 Soulja Boy shocked fans when he shared a new video of himself, which showed he was evidently almost done with removing all of his face tattoos.
Shia LaBeouf's Chest Tattoo
The actor took method acting a step further, and got a full chest tattoo to better channel in his character in the upcoming thriller, The Tax Collector, in which he will play a collector for a crime family.
The tattoo includes his character's name, Creeper, in addition to an image of a woman leaning against a clown.
Rita Ora's Hand Tattoo
The English singer has almost 30 tattoos, but sometimes even she has tattoo regrets: In 2014 Ora inked a black feather on her right hand, but a year later she covered it with an inking of a black rose. However, in 2016 she appeared with large scarring, the result of a tattoo removal procedure.
"I love art and I love tattoos. To me, tattoos aren't about trying to be cool, it's about scaring yourself with a memory of your choice." Scarring yourself in more that one way, it seems.
Rihanna's French Tattoo
When the singer got the French words 'Rebelle Fleur' tattooed on her neck, some people questioned her correct use of French grammar, because the tattoo says 'flower rebel' instead of 'rebellious flower'.
However, Rihanna stands by the tattoo and swears it’s not a mistake.
Post Malone's 'Always Tired' Tattoo
The Texan rapper had the words 'Always Tired' tattooed underneath his right and left eye, respectively
“Anything to piss my mom off”, Said Malone on his face tattoos. “I tried to do something that’s relatively the same length of letters, I guess ‘always’ is more letters than ‘tired,’ but I was tired so I didn’t realize".
Pamela Anderson's Barbed Wire Tattoo
Anderson famously got her barbed wire tattoo arm in 1995, to celebrate her first cinematic lead role in the movie Barb Wire.
Unfortunately, it did not stand the test of time and became blurry, and in 2014, the actress began a laser removal process.
Nick Carter's Kaos Tattoo
Nick Carter is another big tattoo fan. The Backstreet Boys star has got at least 11 tattoos, one of them a tattoo of his nickname, 'Kaos', written down his spine
Carter famously had the name of his ex-girlfriend Paris Hilton tattooed on his left wrist, but has since covered it a skull and crossbones and the phrase 'Old Habits Die Hard'.
Melanie Griffith's Antonio's Tattoo
After announcing her split from husband Antonio Banderas in 2014, actress Melanie Griffith was seen covering up her 'Antonio' tattoo with what appeared to be makeup or concealer, as she walked various red carpets.
Since then, however, she has undergone laser treatments to erase the love gesture.
Mike Tyson's Face Tattoo
The boxing legend got his infamous face tattoo in 2003, just days before his fight with Clifford Etienne, and since then the tattoo has become part of Iron Mike's persona.
In 2013, Tyson tweeted that he was in the process of getting his face tattoo removed, but it turned out to be only a joke.
Mena Suvari's Back Tattoo
Suvari sports a large tattoo of a fierce lion on the back of her neck, and the words 'word', 'sounds', 'power' written below it.
The American Beauty actress has never publically explained the significance of these words, but we can assume they convey an empowering message for her.
Miley Cyrus's Dog Tattoo
Miley Cyrus is a big animal lover, and she has a few tattoos dedicated to her furry friends. On her left rib cage, the singer has got a tattoo of her late dog Floyd, and next to him the words 'with a little help from my fwends', the title of the 2014 Flaming Lips album.
An avid tattoo fan, Cyrus and has dozens of tattoos all over her body, including an emoji tattoo on her inner lips.
Lil Wayne's Tear drop Tattoos
The rapper has almost 100 tattoos spread out all over his body, including many face tattoos. His most controversial tattoos are his teardrops, since a teardrop on the face usually represents someone you’ve killed.
However, Wayne has previously stated that the teardrops represent four of his family members who have died.
Megan Fox's Shakespearean Tattoo
The Transformers star is evidently also a Shakespeare fan. Her back tattoo says “We will all laugh at gilded butterflies” written in medieval gothic font.
The quote comes from Shakespeare’s King Lear, though Fox slightly altered the wording, the original words being: "so we'll live, and pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh at gilded butterflies".
Louis Tomlinson's Tic-Tac-Toe Tattoo
The One Direction singer has a whopping 39 tattoos, including an, already played, giant game of Tic-Tac-Toe tattooed on his right arm.
According to fan sites, this is most likely an ode to Tomlinson's childhood and the games he used to play as a kid.
Lena Dunham's Odeon Tattoo
Dunham is a longtime fan of body art, but one of her stronger tattoos is a restaurant sign - tattooed on her behind.
"Because I'm an officially deranged daughter of TriBeCa, the Odeon neon sign now lives on my ass for life," the actress wrote on her Instagram page.
Cheryl Cole's Bum Tattoo
The English singer got a huge English roses tattoo covering her entire lower back and buttocks in 2013. The new ink covered some of Cole’s old tattoos, including a butterfly on her back and a flower on her bum.
For Cole, the decision to get a big tattoo came after she a battle with Malaria: "After I got malaria, I wrote a — you call it a bucket list, I call it a f**k it list. And I just wanted to do everything I wanted to do. Life’s short and it changed my perspective and I always wanted a big tattoo”, she told Graham Norton.
Kelly Osbourne's Daddy Tattoo
Aa a tribute to her father, rocker Ozzy Osbourne, the media personality got a heart-shaped lock and key, along with the word 'Daddy', tattooed on her left arm.
Osborne has said that she now thinks of some of her 15 tattoos as "a mistake", and is intended on removing them.
Chanel Iman's Clothing Hanger Tattoo
The Victoria Secret angel has got a clothing hanger, with her name below it, tattooed on the back of her neck.
“You put clothes on a hanger, and you put clothes on a model. So it represents being a model”, Iman explained to Harper’s Bazaar. Which is true, we guess.
Hayden Panettiere's Back Tattoo
The actress has a big tattoo down her left side, with the words “Vivere senza rimipianti,” Italian for “to live without regrets.”
Unfortunately, the tattoo made some headlines because of a spelling mistake: the third word has an extra 'i' and should be 'rimpianti'. "So I literally have to live by that advice!", the actress joked to Glamour.
Ed Sheeran's Lion Tattoo
The English singer is covered in dozens of tattoos, some of them with pretty questionable aesthetic qualities - for example, the big lion head that is tattooed across his chest.
And even Sheeran's own tattoo artist doesn't love the designs: “I take the piss out of Ed all the time, when I’m with him, that they are sh*t,” said tattoo artist Kevin Paul to the Mirror.
Lea Michele’s Wrist Tattoo
The Glee star, who started her career on Broadway, has the words "I Believe" from the musical Spring Awakening, tattooed on her right wrist in teal ink.
Unfortunately, the ink's font and shade make it a bit challenging to understand.
Drake's Drakkar Noir Tattoo
Drizzy seems to have a real connection to Drakkar Noir, a men’s fragrance by Guy Laroche. The rapper's aftershave-inspired tattoo, located on his left shoulder, is apparently a nod to his old tweeter handle @DrakkardNoir.
Overall, Drake has more than 30 tattoos, ranging from portraits of his beloved family members to symbols that carry special meaning to him.
David Beckham's Victoria Tattoo
In 2000 the soccer star got a tattoo of his wife's, Spice Girls' Victoria Beckham, name on his arm, in Sanskrit. However, the romantic gesture was a bit spoiled when it was revealed that instead of 'Victoria', the tattoo read 'Vihctoria'.
Beckham is believed to have between 40-50 tattoos covering his body, comprised of quotes, Biblical text, and tributes to his family.
Chris Brown's Neck Tattoo
In 2012 the rapper got a tattoo of a woman's face on his neck, and immediately endured great backlash online after people pointed out the tattoo looked like a portrait of a battered woman - when Brown himself was charged in 2009 for assault of then-girlfriend, singer Rihanna.
Brown's publicist denied the accusations and said that the tattoo's design was derived from the Mexican Día de Muertos.
Ryan Gosling's Homemade Tattoo
Interestingly, the Hollywood heartthrob has quite a lot of tattoos - and many of them are "homemade".
"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,” joked Gosling to Metro.
Birdman's Star Tattoo
The iconic rapper is covered from head to toe in ink. His most famous tattoo is his "headpiece" - copmrised of 5 red stars that are tattooed around his scalp.
According to rapper 50 Cent, Birdman and Lil Wayne "were the ones who started the face tattoo wave."
Kendall Jenner's Inner Lip Tattoo
In 2016 the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star got a new tattoo - inside her mouth. Her tattoo artist made headlines when he posted a picture of her revealing the secret tattoo: tiny black letters that spelled out the word “meow.”
During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show two years later, Jenner shared why she got the tattoo: “I was drunk!”. Makes complete sense.
Audrina Patridge's Neck Tattoo
The former Hills star has a colorful tattoo that represents the Adam and Eve story on the back of her neck - but with her own twist. In Patridge's version, the "apple" is in fact a human heart, with a stem and leaves.
“My tattoo is a heart with four chambers that turns into an apple with a snake around it,” she explained on her website. “It symbolizes the story of Adam and Eve…and also temptation and destiny.”
Amanda Seyfried's Minge Tattoo
The actress got the word 'minge' tattooed on her left foot, as did her two Mamma Mia! co-stars, Ashley Lilley and Rachel McDowall. 'Minge' actually has a kind of tacky meaning - depending on where you live in the world:
“It’s a term of endearment, and in England, it means ‘vagina,’” Seyfried explained on the Late Night With Seth Meyers, “But in the U.S., which is where I spend most of my time, it just doesn’t mean anything". She admitted that she gets some strange looks when visiting the UK: "There’s a lot of judgment.”
Kylie Jenner's Sanity Tattoo
In 2016, the Kardashians star and fashion entrepreneur got her first ink - a delicate red tattoo, just below her right hip, which spells out the phonetic pronunciation of 'sanity'.
"My first tattoo was 'sanity' to remind myself everyday to keep it," Jenner wrote on her Instagram. "I’ve struggled with anxiety my whole young adult life and after my baby I dealt with all the internal ups and downs. I felt like I had to find myself completely again."
Harry Styles's Booze Tattoo
The One Direction star is a huge tattoos fan, and in 2014 he revealed a new addition on his left arm: a tattoo of an alcohol bottle and the words 'you booze you lose' written in a handwriting-style font above and below the bottle.
Styles is indeed not a big drinker. "it’s just not for me. I’d rather wake up with a clear head,", the singer told The Sun. "I’m not straight edge or anything[...] But I like knowing I’m not going to be stressing about having to do something the next day."
Lana Del Rey's Finger Tattoo
The singer, called the "queen of indie-pop", has a tattoo on her right ring finger, with the morbid phrase 'die young' in cursive letters.
Del Ray has at least 6 known tattoos, all of them of words and saying. Another tattoo on her right-hand cheerfully reads 'trust no one'.
Scarlett Johansson’s Sunrise Tattoo
Though she might not seem like the tattooing type, the Marriage Story star actually has at least 9 tattoos, including a large rose that runs along her back.
One of her more surprising tattoos is a big colorful sunrise tattoo, which decorates her forearm. "It makes me happy when I look at it," Johansson told Allure of her sunrise.
Angelina Jolie's Billy Bob Tattoo
Jolie and Thornton were married between 2000-2003, during which time she got a large tattoo of his name on her left shoulder, and below it a dragon.
After their divorce, she removed the inking of his name, and has since replaced it with a tattoo of the coordinates of locations where her six children were born.
Justin Theroux's Back Tattoo
When Theroux revealed his large back tattoo - which includes a rat and a pigeon - during an episode of The Leftovers, most viewers probably thought it wasn't even real. But, turns out it is not only real, but there's also a sweet story behind it.
The large piece is actually in remembrance of the actor's two rescue pit bull dogs. The rat represents the dog that used to kill rats in Washington Square Park, and the other dog is remembered by a New York pigeon.