Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista has recently revealed that he chose to cover up a tattoo that paid homage to boxer-turned politician Manny Pacquiao because he disagrees with the Filipino champion’s stance on same-sex marriage.
In a recent interview with GQ wherein he broke down his many tattoos, the former wrestler explained, “[This tattoo] used to be a team logo. I was part of the team of a person I considered a friend, and someone who I really looked up to, and then he later came out publicly with some anti-gay statements and then turned out to be an extreme homophobe.”
“And so I had a huge issue with it,” Bautista added. “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 to cover it up with this.”
Where once he wore a meter in flames in an homage to a similar design sported by the Filipino boxer, the actor has since replaced it with a portrait of a woman wearing traditional Día de los Muertos face paint.
The Dune actor first showed off his cover-up job in October of 2016, though at the time he did not elaborate on his reason for making the edit, nor did he mention Pacquiao by name.
Sharing an image of his updated ink – to his personal Instagram “Got a forearm cover up from my boy @john02john .. cover up on the right… love her!” wrote the actor, sharing an image of his new artwork to his personal Instagram account. “Gave her green eyes like Sara Jade [his wife at the time].”
Pacquiao shared his view on same-sex marriage during his 2016 political campaign for the Filipino Senate.
Asked about the topic while running under the banner of the country’s center-right United Nationalist Alliance, Pacquiao replied with a peculiar analogy that rubbed some people, like Baustista, the wrong way.
“As a Christian, same-sex marriage is prohibited,” Pacquiao explained. “Women were created for men, and men were created for women. It’s common sense.”
He would then rhetorically inquire, “Will you see any animals where male is to male and female is to female? The animals are better. They know how to distinguish, male or female.”
“If we approve male on male, female on female, then man is worse than animal,” he then posited, following up with the clarification, “I’m not condemning them. Just the marriage. Committing sin against God.”
But shortly after the controversial interview, Pacquiao took to Instagram to issue a formal apology for his eyebrow-raising comparison.
“I’m sorry for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals,” prefaced the Filipino icon. “Please forgive me for those I’ve hurt.”
However, unwilling to bend the knee, Pacquiao clarified that he was only apologising for the language of his comparison, not his beliefs.
“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,” he concluded. “I love you all with the love of the Lord. God Bless you all and I’m praying for you.”
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Previously, Bautista expressed his discontent with Pacquiao’s stance on same-sex marriage by calling him “a f—king idiot” and declaring that he was personally “extremely offended” by his comments.
“My opinion on [Pacquiao’s comments] is he’s a f—king idiot,” Bautista told TMZ Sports. “My mom happens to be a lesbian so I don’t f—kin take that s—t. I feel like if anyone called my mother an animal I’d stick my foot in his a-s.”
Though he noted that he “still appreciates [Pacquiao] as a fighter,” he asserted that “it’s just his personal views” he doesn’t agree with.
“Makes me respect him a lot less,” Bautista concluded.
