Presley Gerber Responds to Backlash Over His New Face Tattoo: 'People Love to Hate Me'

Hanna Flanagan
·2 min read

Presley Gerber is defending his new ink.

In an Instagram Story on Wednesday, the model addressed his controversial face tattoo which features the word “MISUNDERSTOOD” written in capital letters across his right cheekbone.

“Most and a lot of people can get a face lifts, change genders, lip injections, etc and it’s offensive to say anything in today’s age but I get a little face tattoo and now people love to hate me..,” the 20-year-old model and son of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber wrote. “Hmmmm?”

Presely Gerber/ Instagram

Last month, the star clapped back at his critics in an Instagram Live video captured by a Twitter user: “You don’t know how I feel. You’re not in my head,” he said in the clip.

Jon Boy Tattoo/Instagram Presley Gerber

And when asked about the meaning of his tattoo, Presley (whose sister is supermodel Kaia Gerber) replied, “I don’t feel very understood, I guess.”

“If anyone has s—t to say to me about this, or anything else, or my family, or how I grew up … I will give you my address — I promise — and you can come say it to my face,” he said in the same video, pointing to the fresh ink.

RELATED: Kaia and Presley Gerber Debut Tiny Sibling Tattoos on Instagram Amid His Return to Social Media

“If I thought this was going to ruin my face or I didn’t want this, I wouldn’t have done it. I think that’s a pretty obvious thing,” he also told viewers in the video, according to Page Six. “It says misunderstood, because that’s how I felt my entire life.”

RELATED: Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber’s Son Presley Gerber, 19, Charged with DUI

Presley Gerber/Instagram

“His parents love it, by the way,” model Cameron Rorrison interjected at one point, according to the outlet.

Presley debuted the body art on Feb. 7, when he shared a video of New York-based tattoo artist Jonathan “JonBoy” Valena inking the word on his face. “Thanks homie 😈 @jonboytattoo,” he wrote on Instagram.

Jon Boy Tattoo/Instagram

Valena, who has tattooed super-small, super-precise designs on celebrities including Hailey Bieber, Justin Bieber and Kendall Jenner, also shared some photos of the ink on his social media, writing in the caption for one photo, “Sorry mom.”