Disney-Marvel actor Dave Bautista claims that he removed a tattoo of former boxer Manny Pacquiao over comments denouncing homosexual acts.
In February 2016, the former boxer Pacquiao stirred up heavy controversy when he bashed LGBTQ sexual relationships while running for a seat in the Philippine Senate.
“If men mate with men and women mate with women, they are worse than animals,” Pacquiao said at the time.
In response to the backlash, Pacquiao apologized on social media for his remarks while still holding to his beliefs in traditional marriage.
“I’m sorry for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals. Please forgive me for those I’ve hurt. I still stand on my belief that I’m against same sex marriage because of what the Bible says, but I’m not condemning LGBT. I love you all with the love of the Lord. God Bless you all and I’m praying for you,” he said at the time.
Speaking GQ Dave Bautista, most famous for the character Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy, said that he covered up his Pacquiao tattoo over his “anti-gay statements,” referring to him as a friend that “I really looked up to.”
“He later came out publicly with some anti-gay statements and turned out to be an extreme homophobe,” Bautista said in the video shared on TikTok. “So I had a huge issue with it. It’s a personal issue with me. My mom’s a lesbian, and I just could no longer call him a friend, so I had it covered up with this.”
Bautista did not mention Pacquiao by name, but he did share a before and after photo of the tattoo in 2016. The previous tattoo showed a flaming meteor (Pacquiao’s team logo), which was replaced by a Dia De Los Muertos tattoo.
Bautista also condemned Pacquiao in 2016, referring to him as a “fucking idiot” in an interview with TMZ.
“I don’t think it’s funny. Put it like this: If anyone called my mother an animal, I’d stick my foot in his ass,” the Glass Onion star said. “You can’t come back from that, man. There’s no coming back from that.”