Regret your Kanye West tattoo? This studio will remove it for free.
LONDON - Do you have a Kanye West tattoo you now regret? A tattoo-removal studio in Britain is removing body art inspired by the rapper - and it won't even charge you for it.
"We'll remove your Kanye tattoos for free," London-based Naama Studios announced on Instagram last month as Ye, the rapper and music mogul formerly known as Kanye West, was condemned over a string of antisemitic statements made publicly in recent months.
In a play on the rapper's name, the tattoo parlor even came up with a slogan for its service: "Yeezy come, Yeezy go."
In one tweet, which has since been deleted, Ye said he would go "death con 3" on "JEWISH PEOPLE," an apparent reference to Defcon, the U.S. military defense readiness system. He also propounded false claims about George Floyd's killing at the hands of Minneapolis police.
"We understand that tattoos can be triggering for some people and not everyone can afford to remove their tattoos," the company told The Washington Post in an email Thursday. It noted that one of the people who took them up on the offer said she was being trolled for her Ye-inspired tattoo.
The store said several people have contacted it in recent weeks to have their Ye tattoos lasered off - a procedure that can cost up to 2,000 pounds (about $2,400).
"When you have a tattoo inspired by someone you admire and they start making headlines for all the wrong reasons, it's not exactly something you want to wear on your sleeve," Naama said.
Ye has been one of the central figures in American entertainment culture, and hundreds of posts can be found on Instagram under the hashtag #Kanyetattoo. There are lyrics, album artwork, quotes and portraits of the rapper etched into various body parts of fans from Britain to the United States.
As a result of his public rants and hate speech, Ye was swiftly dropped by several brands with which he had lucrative deals and was locked out of both his Twitter and Instagram accounts for violating user rules. Ex-wife Kim Kardashian, whom Ye repeatedly harassed on social media amid their high-profile divorce, has also - at least in public - distanced herself from the father of her four children.
"It seems there are a few former fans with tattoo regret," the company said. Three clients have already started their Ye-tattoo removal journey, and 10 other people have booked consultations, it said.
The removal process can take several months. It uses advanced technology to apply intense pulses of light to the ink, which then breaks down into particles that are removed by the immune system, the company explained.
Naama said it runs a community-led initiative called "second chances" that offers pro-bono laser removal treatment to people who need it most - including those with unwanted gang tattoos, reminders of radiotherapy or the name of an ex-partner. It described its offer to remove Kanye West tattoos as "a natural extension" of that project.
Tattoo regret isn't new. The Washington Post previously reported that the U.S. tattoo removal industry was on track to reach $4.8 billion by 2023, and a spokesman for the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery estimated that 25 percent of American adults with tattoos want them removed.
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