Good thing tattoos can be burned off! Some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Rihanna and Britney Spears, have totally botched their own tats!
Poor Rihanna! She stopped by EastSide Ink on Aug. 11 to get the phrase “rebellious flower” tattooed in French on her neck, but we bet she’s already regretting her decision — the phrase was tattooed backwards! What exactly is a “flower rebel?” And this isn’t even the first time this has happened to her! Back in 2009, Rihanna had the word “forgiveness” incorrectly spelled out in Sanskrit on her right side. But she’s not the only celeb who’s had the misfortune of getting a misspelled (and often mis-translated) tattoo! Some pretty big Hollywood names, including Britney Spears and David Beckham, are already members of the club.
Here’s our list of the eight worst celebrity tattoo mistakes:
- Hayden Panettiere decided back in 2009 that she wanted to get the saying “live without regret” in Italian on her side. But when she went and got the words “Vivere Senza Rimipiati” tattooed, she ended up with one i too many! Hayden admits: “It’s misspelled, whatever. I just put my own spin to it. Chances are I’ll probably get it fixed, but that’s why I love having it on my back because I don’t get bored of it.”
- Rihanna has gotten TWO jacked-up tattoos! On Aug. 11 she got “rebelle fleur,” in French tattooed on her neck but she put the adjective before the noun which made it flower rebel?! In 2009, the word “forgiveness” was misspelled in Sanskrit on her side!
- Britney Spears is also a repeat offender! She got a tattoo on her hip that was supposed to say “mysterious,” but it ended up saying “strange.” She then got a Kabbalah-inspired symbol on the back of her neck which was supposed to say “God,” but that one was misspelled too! She has since gotten it removed.
- Justin Timberlake got tatted up with fake ink for his movie Alpha Dog in 2006. He was supposed to play a hardcore drug dealer — so why did they put the Chinese character for “ice skating” on his left bicep?
- In 2000, David Beckham had wife Victoria Beckham‘s name mispelled in Sanskrit on his arm! It ended up saying: “Vihctoria.” Ouch!
- And who could forget when Jon Gosselin decided to get a massive Korean dragon tattooed on his back? He got his new girlfriend’s name, Ellen Ross, tattooed on one of the scrolls — but it turns out her name was spelled “Erin” instead of “Ellen!”

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Megha
Posted at 6:48 AM on August 9, 2011
its correct! and yeah its Hindi! GOD do some research first!
jenny
Posted at 3:22 AM on August 14, 2010
bekham’s tattoo is not sanskrit.its in hindi!! n in hindi,dat victoria is correct!!
Lisa
Posted at 12:42 PM on August 13, 2010
For Rihanna you are mistaken. rebelle fleur translates to rebel flower, NOT rebelious flower, its 2 nouns so in that case fleur does not HAVE to be first!
fleur
Posted at 2:48 PM on June 7, 2011
I am french and “fleur rebelle” would have been the correct translation. “rebelle fleur” however does not mean “rebelious flower” it just sounds very wrong, and therefore has no meaning whatsoever.
nikol
Posted at 11:40 AM on August 13, 2010
Ok, I have 2 tattoos, and I intend fully to get more. I think they are a great form of expression, however when you get one, you need to do your research. Especially if its in another language!! You also MUST do research on your tattooer, check out his/her book, ask around to others who have gone to their shop. Do not just wake up one morning and say oh I think I’ll go get permanently scared today. Hell, with the internet you can check the meanings of symbols, proper spellings, oh and most tattoo shops (reputable ones,anyway) have websites where they show off their work. Generally speaking tattoos are FOREVER, getting them removed hurts really bad and it takes many sessions of being blasted with a laser. Oh yea and it leaves your skin looking weird and rubbery, gross looking honestly, not back to the clean slate it once was. So instead of your effed up tattoo, you will then have a messed up scar in its place. THINK, PEOPLE, THINK!!!
Alexis
Posted at 6:28 PM on August 12, 2010
That incorrect tattoo on her neck looks incredibly stupid. If you’re going to have something scribbled on your neck, at least get it right.
disco
Posted at 4:25 PM on August 12, 2010
Francais is different that english and Bahamian Creole is even more unique. sheesh