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In an interview with GQ, actor Dave Bautista says he had a tattoo covered up after a friend was revealed to be “an extreme homophobe.”
Bautista, who is a known ally of the LGBTQ community, explains in a tattoo breakdown video that he took issue with statements made by someone he respected.
“I was a part of a team of a person I considered a friend and someone I really looked up to,” he says. “And then he later came out publicly with some anti-gay statements and turned out to be an extreme homophobe.
“It’s a personal issue with me. My mom’s a lesbian, and I just couldn’t call him a friend so I had it covered up with this.”
Although he does not name the friend in question, he did criticize Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, whom Bautista joined in his fight against Ricky Hatton in 2009, for calling gay people “worse than animals” in 2016.
In an interview with TMZ, Bautista called Pacquiao “a f*cking idiot” when asked about his statements.
“I don’t think it’s funny. If anyone called my mother an animal, I’d stick my foot in his ass.”
At the time, Bautista said he still looks up to him as a fighter but could not accept his personal views.
“You can’t come back from that. There’s no coming back from that.”
Images of Bautista prior to the cover-up show a flaming meteor on his left forearm, which matches Pacquiao’s own left forearm tattoo.
The meteor is a known symbol of the Filipino boxer, who used to feature the image on his Nike merchandise prior to being dropped by the fashion brand.
See the rest of the Filipino American actor’s tattoo breakdown down below:
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