Presley Gerber has defended his new face tattoo, saying: “You don’t know how I feel.”
On Saturday, the model shared a video on Instagram showing him having his face inked by New York-based tattoo artist JonBoy.
Gerber, who is the eldest child of supermodel Cindy Crawford, also shared a photograph of himself standing next to JonBoy while sporting his new tattoo, which reads “misunderstood” on his upper right cheek.
After showing off the tattoo with his 29.7k Instagram followers, the 20-year-old took part in an Instagram Live video in which he responded to people’s remarks about the minimalist design.
“You don’t know how I feel, you’re not in my head. What’s the meaning of the misunderstood tattoo is I don’t feel very understood, I guess,” he said in the video.
He continued, delivering a direct message to any naysayers who have voiced critical views about his tattoo or his upbringing.
“I just wanted to come on here and be like, if anyone has s*** to say to me about this or anything else, or my family or how I grew up or anything, I will give you my address, I promise, and you can come say it to my face,” Gerber stated.
The model has received a mixed reaction to his face tattoo, with some people expressing their support and others their bemusement.
“The only thing misunderstood is that tattoo. You just ruined your canvas,” one person commented on Instagram.
“Imagine having a bunch of strangers only value your good looks/famous genetics to the point that they condemn you for ‘ruining yourself’ with a face tattoo,” someone else remarked.
“Way to reduce a person to being merely a model for your enjoyment. Pretty sure he can do what he wants with his skin shell.”
Gerber has walked the runway for fashion labels including Prabal Gurung, Balmain and Moschino.
His younger sister, 18-year-old Kaia Gerber, is also a model, having recently participated in runways at New York Fashion Week.
Singer Moby recently debuted divisive tattoos highlighting his animal rights activism, having “vegan for life” tattooed on his neck and “animal rights” tattooed down his arms.
