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When you’re in love, you tend to act more spontaneously and maybe do things that are against your better judgment, like moving across the country to go to the same college, or getting matching tattoos. The problem is, none of us have a magic ball that will enable us to look into the future and see how that relationship is going to turn out in the long term, and keeping this in mind, it’s probably not the best idea to get a tattoo in honor of a romantic relationship.
That said, some celebs have thrown caution to the wind and gotten tattoos of either their partner’s name or in some more extreme cases, their face (Amber Rose, we’re speaking to you, hun), only to break up later. And because no one wants a tattoo that serves as a constant reminder of their ex and their failed relationship staring them in the face for the rest of their lives, they’ve had to endure a long and painful process of removing that tattoo or covering it up.
Below are 15 celebs who really wish they had thought out their decision a little better before tattooing a tribute to their ex— and then there are some who haven't even learned their lesson yet.
Angelina Jolie's Billy Bob Tattoo Wasn't The Only Weird Thing About Their Relationship
No one can forget Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton’s romance because it was incredibly weird. In 1999, they met on the set of their film, Pushing Tins, and they didn’t wait long (around two months) before they were married.
During this time, they made headlines for a lot of unusual reasons, like the fact that they wore vials of each other’s blood around their necks and told the press about their raunchy limo activities. But then, there was also the tattoo Jolie decided to get scribbled on her arm in honor of her husband— a dragon with the name "Billy Bob" above it.
Their relationship didn’t last though and three years later, in 2003, the couple divorced. Jolie has since covered up her tattoo in honor of Thornton and replaced it with coordinates from where her children were born. Hopefully, she learned her lesson.
Iggy Azalea Regretted Her A$AP Rocky Ink Big Time
Iggy Azalea and A$AP Rocky dated before they became the hugely famous stars they are now, and during this time, Azalea got “Live. Love. ASAP” tattooed on the inside of her fingers.
The pair broke up in 2012, and Azalea opted to simply cross out “Asap," but this was never going to be a long-term solution. Two years later, Azalea decided to remove the tattoo for good and was spotted leaving a laser tattoo removal clinic in Beverly Hills with her fingers bandaged up. She told Billboard (via E! News) at the time, “Right now I'm getting [my A$AP Rocky] tattoo removed and I know there's seven paparazzi outside taking pictures of me having a conversation with you and I would prefer to do that in private. But someone's going to sell these pictures to a blog so we can talk about it on Twitter."
Johnny Depp Wanted Winona Ryder Forever
When you think of Johnny Depp’s relationships, the two that come to mind are Vanessa Paradis and Amber Heard, but before either of these women were on Depp’s radar he was engaged to Winona Ryder.
He proposed to her five months after meeting her and later decided to show his love for her to the world with a tattoo. Depp got the words "Winona Forever” tattooed just below his right shoulder, but when the couple split in 1993, he was left with an unwanted reminder. Depp decided to get creative with his tattoo and instead of covering it up entirely he chose to get the letter “n” and “a” removed from the name so his tattoo instead read, "Wino Forever.” Um, OK?!
The massive age difference between the pair should have been a tell-tale sign because Ryder was reportedly only 17 on their first date, and before Depp, the actress hadn’t even had a boyfriend.
Amber Rose Got Wiz Khalifa's Face On Her Arm
Amber Rose and Wiz Khalifa were married in 2013, after two years of dating, and there was a point when they were adorable together. Rose wanted to show her love for the rapper to the world and she decided to do this in a big way—getting his face tattooed on her arm.
Maybe she did it because she was completely smitten, or maybe she did it because wanted to brag that she had bagged herself the “See You Again” rapper. Whatever the reason, it was a painful reminder of the man she once loved when they split in 2014. Rose wasn’t in a rush to cover up the tattoo, probably because it was a pretty big job, so she waited until 2017 to turn it into another man’s face. No, thankfully it was not another lover, instead, she appears to have turned it into a portrait of Slash.
Melanie Griffith Covered Up Antonio Banderas In A Big Way
At this point on this list, you’re probably wondering why the heck couples tattoo each other’s names or faces onto their bodies? Sure, it’s a grand gesture of love but is there really any need for this because what happens when the relationship falls to pieces?
This is not something Melanie Griffith ever foresaw when she married Antonio Banderas, which is why in the ‘90s, she tattooed his name on her arm, in the middle of a heart. The couple was actually together for 18 years before calling it quits in 2014.
No one wants a tattoo of their exes name though, and Griffith reportedly began covering up the tattoo shortly after their divorce announcement. Then a year later, she was spotted with a faded tattoo on her arm, so she must have been working at getting it laser removed.
Kaley Cuoco Won't Be Putting Future Wedding Dates On Her Body
Kaley Cuoco didn’t wait long before she tied the knot with the tennis player, Ryan Sweeting, and when Cuoco falls in love, she falls hard. The couple married in 2013, after just six months of dating, and Cuoco commemorated the special event with a tattoo on the back of her neck with their wedding dates in Roman numerals.
When she and Sweeting divorced in 2016, after 21 months of marriage, she obviously couldn’t leave their wedding date (Dec 31, 2013) on the back of her neck as a reminder of the failed relationship, so she later got it covered up with a moth and posted the artwork onto Instagram. She accompanied it with a message about how she would not be getting any future wedding dates inked onto her body, which is probably a smart move.
Denise Richards And Charlie Sheen Made A Bold Move With Matching Tattoos
It’s hard to believe but Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards were once in love, and in 2002, the same year they got married, they thought it would be romantic to get matching tattoos.
Richards got the name “Charlie” on her ankle, and Sheen got “Denise” on his wrist. The pair divorced in 2006, and it was not the most amicable split (I’ve lost count of all the times Sheen has taken to Twitter to blast Richards), but surprisingly, they didn’t remove their ink straight away.
Apparently, it was not until Sheen’s new fiancée, Brooke Mueller (who he married in 2008), reportedly requested that he removed his ex-wife’s name that he did. Needless to say, Richards was unimpressed by this move and retaliated by covering up her “Charlie” tattoo with a fairy.
Nick Carter Was Once Really Smitten With Paris Hilton
I still can’t believe Paris Hilton and Nick Carter dated, let alone the fact that he was so obsessed with the heiress that he decided to get her name tattooed on his wrist. The pair only dated for eight months before splitting in July of 2004, and they seemed to accomplish a lot in such a short period of time, because in between the cheating rumors, Carter got his tattoo— just three weeks before they broke up.
At the time of the breakup, Carter commented on how their relationship was based on distrust, but he also told People magazine that he had no intention of removing the tattoo. He said, "No, (I don’t regret the tattoo) because I love (Paris). She’ll have a place in my heart always.”
That may have been the way he felt at the time, but things soon changed, and in November of 2004, he was seen leaving a Florida parlor where he had gone to get a skull-and-crossbones to cover up his tribute to his ex.
Eva Longoria Endured More Than Heartache When She Divorced Tony Parker
Eva Longoria married the French professional basketball player, Tony Parker, in 2007 and she was clearly smitten with him because, during the course of their short-lived relationship, she covered her body in three tattoos in tribute to him. The first was the word “nine” tattooed on the back of her neck, which was symbolic because nine was the number of Parker’s San Antonio Spurs jersey.
Longoria got the date of their wedding tattooed on her middle finger, which happened to be July 7, 2007, and she is also reported as having Parker’s initials somewhere in a secret area of her body. But in 2010, Longoria filed for divorce in Los Angeles, citing "irreconcilable differences," and in 2012, she was finally ready to erase all her memories of Parker and thus, begun laser treatments.
Heidi Klum's Abstract Seal Tattoo Caused Her A Lot Of Pain
Seal and Heidi Klum married in 2004, and in 2008, she got a tattoo to commemorate their fourth wedding anniversary. At the time she revealed that the tattoo, which was slightly abstract, was her husband’s name and the three stars represented their children.
They had children, they lived a happy life, and then one day, it all came crashing to a halt and everyone was shocked when they announced their decision to divorce. But this decision was painful in more ways than one, for Klum who had tattooed Seal’s name on her right forearm.
She clearly thought they would be together forever, as you do when you get married, but that was sadly not the case and Klum had had to go about the lengthy process of removing Seal’s name. She did leave the stars for their children though.
Kat Von D (Thankfully) Removed Her Creepy Child Portrait Of Jesse James
Kat Von D is covered in tattoos, so it came as no surprise when she added one more, but this one wasn’t like the rest because this particular piece was in honor of Jesse James. The couple were not even married and had a volatile relationship, so her decision to tattoo a portrait of James as a young boy on her rib cage (which is a particularly painful spot) was a weird one.
When they broke up for good in 2011, Von D swore she had no intention of removing the tattoo because it holds special memories for her. She said that, but of course, she changed her mind, and in 2012, she took to Twitter to reveal that she was undergoing the first round of laser removal.
No one knows what made her change her mind, but we’re pretty sure James' face was a mood killer with new love interests.
Before Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban Had Matching Tats With Niki Taylor
The country music star, Keith Urban, and Niki Taylor were reportedly once a couple, and they felt so strongly about their romance that they decided to get matching tattoos. They didn’t choose each other’s names or faces but instead opted for the Latin saying "Amor Vincit Omnia," which simply means "love conquers all."
Taylor got her tattoo in 2002, but she and Urban broke up in 2004. She has since covered it up (so has he) and she declared that the pain of removing the tattoo was worse than childbirth. Wow.
Urban didn’t learn his lesson though because according to reports, he now has a tattoo that says “Nicole” in honor of his wife, Nicole Kidman. He is believed to have gotten the ink just a few weeks before Kidman gave birth to their daughter, Sunday Rose.
Pamela Anderson's Wedding Tribute To Tommy Lee Was A Bit Extreme
When most people get married they exchange wedding bands, but because Pamela Anderson is one of a kind when she married Tommy Lee in 1995, she decided that instead of a ring, she wanted something more permanent—; a tattoo. She inked the name “Tommy” on her ring finger as a romantic gesture to her husband, but their relationship didn’t work out, and by 1998, the couple had called it quits.
Luckily for Anderson, this was a pretty easy fix, and after her divorce, she reportedly changed the tattoo to read “Mommy.” Years later she finally made the decision to get the ink removed.
Anyone who knows anything about Anderson will know she hasn’t exactly been lucky in the love department, and although she’s been married four times they have all been pretty short-lived romances. Surprisingly, her marriage to Lee was her longest marriage ever (just three years).
People Should Learn From Marc Anthony's "Jennifer" Tattoo
Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez got married in 2004 following a whirlwind romance (they also had to contend with rumors that they had an affair while he was still married to Dayanara Torres).
For a period of time, Lopez and Anthony genuinely appeared to be happy, and there must have been a point where they thought their relationship would last forever because Anthony even went so far as to pay tribute to his wife by getting her name tattooed onto the inside of his wrist, a decision that he would later come to regret. The pair released a statement about their divorce in 2011, and Anthony wasted no time removing the “Jennifer” tattoo. It was reported that just two weeks after the divorce announcement, he was already sporting an elaborate cover-up.
Safaree Samuels Said Goodbye To Nicki Minaj In More Ways Than One
Safaree Samuels and Nicki Minaj were once a couple, and Samuels clearly thought he'd found "the one" because he had a very colorful portrait of his girlfriend tattooed on his forearm, which reportedly took a whopping 14 hours to complete—that’s dedication! According to Daily Mail, at the time of the ink, Samuels took to social media to say, “You know a lot of people go out there and tattoo someone they don't know, you know, so why not tattoo someone I know.”
After their breakup, he didn’t have much choice (unless he wanted to stare at Minaj’s face for the rest of his life) and had to cover up the tattoo with a bigger, more elaborate piece. He chose a bed of roses, but it seemed it pained the tattoo artist to do the cover-up because he took to Instagram to share a before and after shot, along with the caption, “and u think yo job is hard. Just finish this piece for @iamsafaree #SorryNicki #itsJustBusiness #inkArtMusic.”
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