One person's perfect tattoo is another person's lifelong regret, and that's OK. And then there's Ink Master, where the competition element sometimes brings the chaos. All that adds up to quite a few moments of controversy, and plenty of regrets.
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00:00One person's perfect tattoo is another person's lifelong regret, and that's okay. And then
00:05there's Ink Master, where the competition element sometimes brings the chaos. All that
00:09adds up to quite a few moments of controversy, and plenty of regrets.
00:14In 2021, people noticed that Season 4, Episode 6 was missing from Netflix. It wasn't particularly
00:19unusual back in 2014, when it originally aired. There was a flash challenge, then the artists
00:24were paired up and challenged to create light and dark contrast in their tattoos. Pretty
00:28standard, nothing that seemed to justify pulling the entire episode, which remains
00:32unavailable on any streaming service to date.
00:35Over on Reddit, fans speculated wildly. Did the background music alert the copyright police?
00:40Was it because of sponsorship by Corona Beer? Or maybe it was a guy who passed out while
00:43being inked?
00:45Oh, snap.
00:48As it turns out, it was none of the above. A Reddit super sleuth took a closer look at
00:52the human canvases, one of whom mentioned being on the indie wrestling circuit. The
00:56competitor then matched the dude's face in his new ink to ID him as James' rude boy Riley,
01:00who was convicted of possession of child pornography in 2018.
01:05Ink Master Season 3 saw massively controversial elimination. Popular competitor Josh Hibbard
01:10was removed from the show after he confessed that he'd been smoking weed to deal with anxiety.
01:14From my perspective, I didn't know that it would be such a big deal.
01:19Interestingly, Spike TV actually tried to get fans in on a campaign to keep him on the
01:23show, but as the saying goes, rules are rules. Hibbard violated the terms of his contract.
01:29If you can't handle the pressure, you shouldn't be in a competition.
01:32Hibbard was gone, and Reddit was buzzing about the massive injustice. After all, other artists
01:37were allowed to smoke cigarettes to reduce their stress. Then there was the fact that
01:40another artist made it a huge issue, basically forcing Hibbard to out himself, thus taking
01:44one of his major rivals in the competition off the playing field.
01:48Nobody likes a liar or a cheat.
01:50Well, that's why I stood up today and put it out on the table.
01:53Others took issue with how quick some of the artists were to condemn him for his weed use,
01:56even classifying it as cheating. While some suggested that there was more to the story
02:00that didn't make it on camera, as there always is when it comes to reality TV, there were
02:04a ton of fans who weren't happy with the way things went down.
02:07Today is the first time ever that the best tattoo of the day goes home.
02:13But Hibbard had the last laugh. He returned to the show for Season 5, Ink Master Rivals,
02:17finishing in eighth place.
02:19Anyone who's gotten a tattoo knows it's not a pleasant process. There's a lot that happens
02:23as the body reacts to getting punctured thousands upon thousands of times, and it's bad enough
02:28with one artist working on you. Getting tattooed by two artists at the same time is double
02:32the agony. And four artists?
02:34Well, you got four-on-one tattoos. That's technically 24 hours of tattooing at once.
02:41Yep, that's what happened on Season 2 of Ink Master Redemption to a canvas named Catherine,
02:46known to fans as Cheetah Girl, who was openly ridiculed for reacting to the amount of pain
02:50she was in.
02:51Viewers were wildly uncomfortable watching not only her pain, but artists mocking her
02:55for suffering a panic attack during the session. What did the professionals have to say?
02:59In her blog, Ink Art, a Krakow tattoo artist who goes by Kate explains that getting multiple
03:03tattoos in a single day can increase the risk of infection, leaving your body struggling
03:07to heal. And in a piece on Byrdie, cosmetologist Jodi Michalik and dermatologist Dr. Lucy Chen
03:13agreed, adding that getting multiple tattoos simultaneously stresses the immune system,
03:17and it hurts like hell. In other words, it's not ideal.
03:20While the artists on Ink Master are professionals, mistakes happen, which presents a number of
03:25ethical questions. Should obvious mistakes be called out before they're permanently inked
03:29on someone's skin? The human canvas is going to have to walk around with that tattoo for
03:33the foreseeable future, after all. But although stopping a mistake in time might be the right
03:37thing to do, it doesn't happen.
03:39Where's the lips?
03:41There are a ton of examples, including pin-up girls with two right feet and other anatomical
03:45impossibilities, upside-down and incorrect flags, and way too many spelling mistakes
03:50for a group of professionals to be making.
03:52Can you read for us what it says on that banner?
03:56First Corinthians 13, 1 through 7.
04:00Read it again.
04:01While there's no question that human canvases know what they're signing up for, and sign
04:05contracts to that effect, does that excuse artists and judges from perhaps not calling
04:10out errors in the spirit of competition?
04:12"'Kyles' looks like a ball of raisins kind of, like, smashed together. Is that horrible
04:17for me to say?"
04:18As one Redditor observed, competitors seen major anatomical issues and just giggling
04:23to themselves is evil.
04:24It looks like a silverback gorilla with a wig.
04:28And another felt that the show encouraged its artists to set up their fellow artists
04:31to do subpar work. Another called out an instance where a tattoo was done with backwards thumbs,
04:36even after it was brought to the attention of the artist.
04:38That's impossible."
04:41This isn't just a single moment, but many, many moments, and it's a massive problem with
04:45the show.
04:46If you take a look through the Reddit posts that talk about troubling trends on Ink Master,
04:49you find out pretty quickly that a lot of people are bothered by the rampant sexism
04:53and misogyny on the show, and there's plenty to back them up.
04:56It's not just the fact that when nude models are required, they're mostly women, or that
05:00the dudes assume women's pain tolerance to be non-existent. The edits have also played
05:04up male-female relationships, with women, specifically Marisa Loren and Megan Jean Morris,
05:09being portrayed as man-crazy dilettantes, rather than the badass artists they are.
05:14Marisa, some would say that you came in with one master and left with another."
05:21Others have pointed out that tattoos done on women frequently get criticized for not
05:25being feminine enough, with no consideration given to what the artist and canvas wanted.
05:29Some watching the seasons in reverse order have said it's even more obvious just how
05:32misogynistic it is, with one poster saying,
05:35"...the first few seasons are very much a product of their time. Really interesting
05:38if you view it as a documentary about society."
05:41And then there's the fact that it took until Season 8 to have a female winner, Ryan Ashley
05:45Malarkey, and it hasn't gotten much better. Fast forward to Season 16, and Redditors are
05:49still calling out sexism.
05:51"...this is truly one of the only French-made pin-ups where all I would like her to do is
05:57clean the house."
05:59Critics point to comments objectifying women's bodies and tattooed female forms criticized
06:03for being too masculine, for example, those done by Freddie Albrighton and John Mesa.
06:08When Redditors took to the message boards to discuss Ink Master Season 8, there was
06:11plenty of discussion about artists who complained they were given a human canvas with dark skin.
06:16While many found it racist, pointing out the obvious, said anyone vying for the title of
06:20Ink Master should know how to work with all skin colors and types, just as many pointed
06:24out that those complaints were nothing new. They weren't necessarily frowned upon by the
06:27show, either.
06:29Steve Tefft, who won Season 2, coached Season 10, and returned again for Season 14, was
06:33absolutely called out for his cringy complaints about skin color.
06:37"...I don't want the dark canvases. They take away half your skill sets."
06:41In 2016, NPR looked at inequality in the tattoo industry, speaking to artists and customers
06:47who pointed to what was not only a lack of representation, but a pretty racist take on
06:50beauty standards. And here's the thing. At the time, it seemed as though Ink Master was
06:55part of the problem. NPR noted that the show's Instagram page featured zero images of tattoos
07:00done on black skin.
07:02For every great tattoo that's done on Ink Master, there are at least a handful that
07:05are questionable. And if you're wondering whether the show makes sure everyone walks
07:08away happy, the answer is, not really.
07:11"'Cause you know how bad I wanna punch you in the face right now?"
07:15Human canvases volunteer with their own risk. Sure, there are some iffy Ink Master pieces
07:19a disappointed canvas might be able to talk themselves into liking. And then there's Acid
07:23Cat.
07:24I think I speak for every single person in this room, and I say, what the f-----?"
07:31Acid Cat is possibly the most controversial Ink Master's tattoo ever. It's equal parts
07:35disturbing, weird, and perhaps funny, for anyone it's not permanently inked on. Is it
07:40a cat tripping on acid? Is it a cat being dissolved in acid? Honestly, either interpretation
07:45works. And that kinda says it all right there.
07:48There are multiple Reddit threads dedicated to debating the merits of the design, but
07:51the fact that it's an absolute monstrosity is inarguable. One Redditor summed it up,
07:56writing,
07:57"'It's honestly so bad, it's good.' Like, how do you do that by accident? I think you
08:00don't. LOL, we've started to love it in our house."
08:04Another poster put it succinctly,
08:05"'Me at the age of 9 with a spray can tool and MS Paint.' But for every person who hated
08:10it, there were others who absolutely loved it. Art is subjective, even when maybe it
08:15shouldn't be."
08:16The tattoo industry seems like it might be a fun scene to get into, but there's a dark
08:20side to it. There are plenty of stories of hazy rituals and unprofessional artists that
08:24are inevitable in a highly unregulated industry.
08:27"'That's my credo. No regrets.'"
08:31This brings us to something that many fans of Ink Master find questionable — artists
08:34who include personal details in the tattoos they ink on another person's skin. Perhaps
08:38the most egregious example was a clock where the artist used the time of his own birth.
08:43"'Personally, I think that's pretty egotistical, to put the time of your birth into someone
08:47else's tattoo.'"
08:49But there was more than one Ink Master artist who left a personal signature on a canvas'
08:53body. Fiendrock1 said that his trademark was using his own front teeth and skull tattoos,
08:58and Alex Rockoff used his own girlfriend as the reference on a surrealistic back tattoo.
09:02"'She's hot. It'll work.'"
09:05Rockoff's was unanimously voted the worst of the bunch for that challenge. Once again,
09:09it's about ethics on Ink Master and in tattooing in general. Over on Reddit, some didn't see
09:13anything wrong with adding a personal detail to a piece, as long as it was still in line
09:17with what the client wanted. But others condemned it as egotistical, disrespectful, and narcissistic,
09:22and said that if it were their tattoo, they'd definitely feel uncomfortable.
09:27Reality shows thrive on drama, and Ink Master is no exception. One of the most high-profile
09:31feuds is between artist Kyle Dunbar and judge Chris Nunez.
09:35"'What's up, Kyle? What, are you gonna mad dog me?' "'Just call you a b----.'"
09:42Nunez claims he was always only about pushing Dunbar to be better, but Dunbar saw it differently.
09:47In an interview with MLive, he remarked,
09:49"...if you train your dog by scolding every time it does something wrong, it cowers from
09:53you for some time. Eventually, if you beat it up a bit, it strikes at you."
09:57Dunbar later reignited the controversy on Reddit, claiming that producers tried to amp
10:01up the conflict by suggesting lines and pressuring people to behave in a certain way for maximum
10:05drama. He even suggested that producers spread rumors among the cast to create tension, writing,
10:10"...they do try to start things, and it is uncomfortable sometimes."
10:13It's no surprise that Dunbar took issue with the way his beep with Nunez was edited for
10:17air, claiming that even incidents where Nunez appeared to compliment him weren't sincere.
10:22Was it fair? Dunbar didn't think so, sharing,
10:24"...sometimes an artist would have a full day of interviews. They keep you in there
10:28until they get what they want. Which brings us full circle. For anyone who's tempted by
10:31the idea of a free tattoo, volunteer to be an Ink Master human canvas at your own risk."