Kat Von D Gives an Emotional Defense for Her ‘Blackout’ Tattoo After Fans Get Critical

Celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D is coming to her own defense after fans criticized her new “blackout” tattoo. After the 37-year-old LA Ink alum debuted the new ink, a fresh coating of black covering the expanse of nearly her entire left arm, and was inundated with criticism that it was “horrendous,” Von D took to Instagram on Wednesday to speak out against the backlash and defend her decision.

“Having been in the tattoo industry for the greater part of my life, I’ve seen countless tattoos of all types of styles — but NEVER have I felt inspired to tell anyone ‘that’s ugly’ or ‘you’re stupid,’” she began. “Tattoos are funny in the sense that ultimately it is one of the most intimately personal things we can do for ourselves. But even though tattoos are an outward expression, they really aren’t for anyone else other than the person wearing it.”

Going on to write that she loves “sharing and giving the world a window into aspects” of her life, Von D said that “just because I choose to share my experiences, it shouldn’t be an invitation for such negativity.”

“Yes, I did decide to black out a large portion of old, crappy tattoos on my arm that I posted yesterday, and regardless of what people might think about it, I absolutely LOVE how simple and clean it looks now,” she continued before going on to directly speak out against her critics.

“No, it doesn’t matter that you don’t like the way my arm looks. To each their own,” she wrote. “No, this isn’t bad for my health [but thank you for caring!] When done correctly, tattoos don’t penetrate passed the second dermis layer of skin. During the healing process, our skin naturally filters out any excess pigment through our pores. And no, there is no lead, plastics, toxins in the professional-grade tattoo pigments that we use.”

“No, this isn’t a lazy attempt at a coverup. It actually takes an extremely skilled artist that specializes in blacking out tattoos,” she continued before ending her post with a piece of advice. “Before you label something ‘ugly’ or ‘horrible’ try to remember that beauty is subjective. Your idea of a dream tattoo, might be someone else’s idea of a nightmare.”


Von D’s response came just a day after she took to the social media platform to showcase the tattoo, which took artist HoodeTattoos one-and-a-half hours to ink, and which Von D said she is “so in love with.”

Although Von D was in love with the fresh ink, the same couldn’t be said for her followers, many of whom jumped in the comments section just to bash the new ink.

“That looks absolutely horrendous,” one person wrote.

“For a tattoo artist and someone with so much artistic skill, this seems…well it’s just terrible. I’ll say it,” another wrote. “And people talking like it’s such an artistic expression…is it. Looks like an arm was dipped in a can of paint.”

However, after Von D’s Wednesday post, many seem to have changed their tune, some even asking if she plans to get a blackout tattoo on her right arm, too.