30 Celebrities With Tattoos So Bad They Had to Cover Them Up

Adrienne Bailon

The former Cheetah Girls star once dated Rob Kardashian, and during that time, she had his name tattooed across her butt. Five years after they split, Bailon decided to have it removed—and she shared the process in a segment on Extra TV (opens in new tab).

She's also discussed the tat on her show, The Real. "Everybody knows I have the ratchetest booty tattoo of an ex-boyfriend. I don't know what I was thinking," she said.

Angelina Jolie

Remember that time Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton were a thing? And when she had his name tattooed on her arm above a dragon? Well, after they were divorced in 2003, Jolie decided she no longer wanted "Billy Bob" on her body.

"I never felt good enough for her," Thornton later said in an interview with GQ (opens in new tab). "I’m real uncomfortable around rich and important people."

Ashley Greene

The Twilight star has the phrase, "Life's a Dance," tattooed on the top of her foot. But it's missing one little thing: an apostrophe.

Ben Higgins

When he was a freshman in college, the former Bachelor star had "Proverbs 16:3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed," tattooed on his side. However, there was some miscommunication with the artist (opens in new tab) who inked him, and the tattoo says, "Proverbs 16:34."

Britney Spears

Britney Spears has several tattoos, but the one located on her hip doesn't say what she intended it to. The singer reportedly wanted the Chinese symbol (opens in new tab) for "mysterious," but somehow she ended up with the symbol that means "strange."

Britney Spears

Oops, she did it again—and by it, we mean, had another tattoo mishap. If you look closely at the back of Spears' neck (opens in new tab), you can see a small tattoo near her hairline. It was supposed to say "God" in Hebrew, but was reportedly misspelled and removed later.

Eva Longoria

Eva Longoria is another celebrity who had an unwanted tattoo on her neck—only her's wasn't spelled wrong. The actress-slash-producer-businesswoman had her ex-husband, Tony Parker’s basketball number (opens in new tab), “nine,” tattooed on the nape of her neck. She had it removed two years after their divorce was finalized.

Charlie Sheen

After getting married to Denise Richards in 2002, the former Two and a Half Men actor had her name tattooed on his wrist. Richards was thrilled at the time that he made the sweet gesture.

“I love that!” she said in an interview with People (opens in new tab). “I’ve never had anyone tattoo anything for me!” However, the tattoo only lasted four years, like their marriage—Sheen had it lasered off (opens in new tab) while trying to win over Brooke Mueller.

Christina Aguilera

The singer got inked after she got hitched to Jordan Bratman. For her happily ever tattoo, she chose to have his initials written on her inner arm in Hebrew. However, they filed for divorce in 2010, and Aguilera was left with the ink. Turns out the combination of characters (opens in new tab) she got actually means "12" in Hebrew, not "JB." It seems like Xtina might have lucked out this time.

Coolio

The rapper might be the only person to actually ask for a misspelled tat. As an ode to his fans, who call themselves "Juggalos," Coolio had the word inked on his left bicep. However, he had the artist leave out one "g" on purpose, though he didn't verify the exact reasoning. According to TMZ (opens in new tab) he doesn't plan to have it fixed.

David Beckham

The English soccer player—and possible royal wedding attendee (opens in new tab)—had his wife's name (Victoria) tattooed on his left forearm in Sanskrit. But during the process, her name was somehow misspelled, "Vhictoria." At least it's not inked in English.

Emma Watson

In honor of the movement that took over 2018 award show red carpets, Emma Watson showed up to the Oscars with a cursive tattoo of the phrase, "Time's Up." However, the now-iconic saying on her forearm was missing an apostrophe (opens in new tab), which could be due to the fact that the hashtag doesn't include one. Luckily, Watson's ink was only temporary.

Hayden Panettiere

Hayden Panettiere's ink is ironic: She had the phrase, "Live without regrets," in Italian tattooed along the side of her back—unfortunately, she's got one regret now. In Italian the saying is, "Vivere senza rimpianti," but the last word was accidentally spelled, "rimipianti."

“It’s misspelled, whatever," she said in an interview (opens in new tab). "I just put my own spin to it. Chances are I’ll probably get it fixed, but that’s why I love having it on my back because I don’t get bored of it.”

Heidi Klum

The model-slash-actress-slash-businesswoman had the initials of her now ex-husband, Seal, tattooed on her arm (opens in new tab), along with the initials of her four children. She began to have it removed two years after her divorce was finalized.

Jennifer Lawrence

The Hunger Games actress made a pretty permanent mistake while hanging out with her co-star Liam Hemsworth's family. Since everyone was getting tattoos, she decided to get one, too, choosing to have "H2O" inked in red on her hand...but the number "2" is in the wrong place.

"I know the '2' is high, and in H2O, the '2' is supposed to be low," she said in an interview with Elle (opens in new tab). "I should have googled it before I got it tattooed on my body."

Johnny Depp

Remember when Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder used to date? Well, the Pirates of the Caribbean actor showed his affection for her by having "Winona Forever" inked on his bicep. Sadly, they didn't last that long. Depp had his ode to Winona changed to say "Wino Forever." Hopefully he really does like to drink wine!

Kat Von D

The makeup mogul has a lot of tattoos. And she used to have one of her boyfriend Jesse James—until he cheated on her (opens in new tab). She reportedly had the ink removed from her ribcage after they broke up.

Kathy Griffin

Instead of a sparkly, diamond ring, Kathy Griffin opted to have a more permanent band tattooed on her ring finger when she married Matt Moline. After their divorce in 2006, she had it lasered off. “I have one tattoo on my whole body like an asshole and it’s a fucking wedding ring and I’m divorced,” the comedian told The Windy City Times (opens in new tab).

Kelly Osbourne

The British singer-songwriter has had as many as 15 tattoos removed because she just didn't like them anymore. She told Us Weekly she didn't want her teenage actions to define her adult life.

"I was miserable and I just went and got all these tattoos and I don't know why. One of them is a keyboard and I don't even know how to play a piano, "she said in a 2010 interview (opens in new tab). "As you get older, you realize that you don't want to be defined by your tattoos, because that's not the type of person that I am."

Megan Fox

The Transformers actress had a tattoo of Marilyn Monroe on her forearm, but decided she didn’t want it anymore because of the late star's mental health issues.

"It is a negative character, as she suffered from personality disorders and was bipolar," Fox said in an interview (opens in new tab). "I do not want to attract this kind of negative energy in my life.”

Mel B

Mel B, a.k.a Scary Spice, and her then-boyfriend Eddie Murphy got matching hip tattoos (opens in new tab) in 2007. After ending their tumultuous relationship, Mel had her "Eddie" tattoo removed.

Paris Hilton

Paris Hilton is another woman who was tatted for love. When she was dating Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter, she had his name tattooed on her lower backside (opens in new tab). They broke up in 2004 and she had it removed.

Nick Carter

The Backstreet Boy had his then-girlfriend Paris Hilton’s name inked on the inside of his wrist, which you can see if you look closely. Despite their breakup, Carter doesn't regret getting the tattoo.

“No, [I don’t regret the tattoo] because I love [Paris],” he said in an interview with People (opens in new tab). “She’ll have a place in my heart always.” But not on his wrist always—Carter later had her name covered with a skull and crossbones.

Nicole Ritchie

When she was 16 years old, Nicole Ritchie had the word "Virgin" tattooed on her wrist, and not for the reason you might think. “I’m a Virgo and the sign is a virgin," she explained in an interview (opens in new tab).

"So when I was 16, I got the word 'virgin' tattooed on my wrist, thinking I was sooo deep and cool. And now I just look really weird having 'virgin' written across my wrist and I have to explain it.”

Rihanna

Rihanna wanted the phrase "rebellious flower (opens in new tab)," inked in French on her neck—but unfortunately, she must not have realized that the noun goes before the adjective in that language. The words "rebelle fleur," actually mean "flower rebel."

Rihanna

Poor RiRi also has the word “forgiveness” allegedly misspelled in Sanskirt (opens in new tab) on her side.

Justin Timberlake

In the 2006 movie Alpha Dogs, Justin Timberlake played a drug dealer covered in tattoos (opens in new tab). Despite playing a hardcore guy, one of the tattoos on his character's arm was the Chinese symbol for "ice skating."

Pamela Anderson

When Pamela Anderson married Tommy Lee, they chose to ink each other's names on their wedding fingers (opens in new tab) instead of wearing jewelry. Since their divorce, Anderson has had the finger tat changed to say, "Mommy."

Jon Gosselin

Jon Gosselin got a giant dragon tattoo (opens in new tab) on his back with his girlfriend Ellen Ross' name on a scroll underneath it. However, the ink artist accidentally wrote "Erin" instead of "Ellen." Whoops.

Kevin Durant

The basketball star also has a massive back tattoo (opens in new tab) with a misspelling. He had the scripture James 1:2-4 permanently inked on his back. It's a wordy tat, and one's not correct: "mature." The artist accidentally spelled it, "mautre."