14 DAY TRIAL // Seven weeks after being assaulted and reportedly beaten to a pulp by her boyfriend Chris Brown, Rihanna seems to be back to her old self, going out and partying with friends, albeit still keeping a relatively low profile. Just the other day, she also went out and got a new tattoo of a gun across her ribcage, as photos posted by tattoo artist BangBang clearly show.
Initially, the 21-year-old singer wanted to get two such guns on the side of the top of her arms. According to the artist himself, she later changed her mind because of the position of the tattoos, which would have made it rather hard to hide should she want that. So, the artist “ended up doing it on her ribs,” as the post on the official MySpace page reads.
Apparently, another reason for not wanting to get the tattoo of a gun on the arms was Rihanna’s contract with Cover Girl. “I really wanted to put it here [on her arms]… She loved ‘em. But, Cover Girl wouldn’t have liked it much… and they pay the bills!” BangBang writes.
Since the photos surfaced online and were then spread by celebrity bloggers, a heated debate on whether Rihanna’s tattoo could be read as a sign of glamorizing violence also began.
While the singer has always shown her penchant for weapons (she has, for instance, countless pendants that represent handguns of various sizes), given the recent controversy surrounding her relationship with Chris Brown and, most importantly, her alleged reconciliation with him after the abuse, several media outlets feel entitled to say that this is, in fact, a clear case of glamorization of weapons and violence.
BangBang, the artist who came up with the design and inked it on Rihanna’s ribcage, though, seems to believe that this is somehow far-fetched. As far as he’s concerned, the singer is young and free to express herself however she may feel at a certain point in her life, so people should not rush to judge her solely on account of a small tattoo she simply wanted to have done.
“If I had to say why she got it, it’s because she kicks [expletive] and everybody supports her! She can do whatever she wants. She’s one of the nicest and sweetest people I know. She has a lot of really good friends supporting her. We didn’t talk about why she specifically got it. She’s a rock. She’s just thinking about having a great time now.” BangBang says to Life&Style about what might have been the motivation behind the handgun tattoo.