A woman is speaking out to blast a tattoo artist who she claims made her strip off her shirt, made leering comments about her ‘tits’, and then body-shamed her while he was inking her stomach.
The woman, named Dalina, from Escondido, California, called the incident the ‘worst tattoo experience of her life,’ and said the artist’s behavior resulted in her walking out before the appointment was finished and prompted her to have a panic attack in her car.
She explained that she met the tattoo artist while working out in the gym, after he approached her because he noticed her other tattoos.
She decided to make an appointment with him to get an ink design on her stomach, but ended up leaving in the middle because he made her so uncomfortable.
A woman is slamming her tattoo artist after he allegedly made her strip off her shirt, made comments about her ‘tits,’ and body shamed her while inking her stomach
The woman, named Dalina, from Escondido, California, called it the ‘worst tattoo experience of her life,’ and said it resulted in her walking out before it was finished and having a panic attack
She explained that she met the tattoo artist while working out in the gym, after he approached her because he noticed her other tattoos
She made an appointment to get an ink on her stomach, but ended up leaving in the middle because he made her so uncomfortable. She is pictured showing off her incomplete tattoo
She claimed that the tattoo artist, who is named Johnny, told her to get undressed, and then proceeded to call her ‘unsymmetrical’ and make fun of her ‘back rolls.’
She spoke out about the situation on TikTok where it quickly went viral, gaining more than 15 million views in a matter of days and leaving many people on the internet appalled.
She spoke out about the situation on TikTok where it quickly went viral, gaining more than 15 million views in a matter of days and leaving many people on the internet appalled
The video showed Dalia sitting in her car visibly upset, as she spoke to the camera.
‘The worst tattoo experience of my life – now I need to find someone to fix this huge outline I have on my stomach,’ a text overlay read.
‘I need to know if I’m being dramatic or not. I just left in the middle of getting my tattoo,’ she said in the clip. ‘In the middle of my appointment, I got up and I paid him and I left.
‘I met this guy at the gym, he approached me specifically because of my tattoos and he was like, “Oh I do tattoos,” and he gave me his card and we exchanged information and then I looked him up.
‘I liked his work and I had a tattoo that I wanted to get done all over my stomach.’
Dalia explained that when she got to his tattoo shop – which was located in a garage – he ‘had her take her shirt off.’
‘So I come to [the tattoo shop] and he has me take off my shirt, I have my pasties so I’m literally there without a shirt and just my nipples are covered,’ she continued.
‘He starts talking about unsymmetrical I was, he started calling my boobs “tits,” but the last straw, I turn around and he goes, “Oh I get why I see you in the gym all the time. You got back rolls.”‘
Dalia explained that when she got to his tattoo shop – which was located in a garage – he ‘had her take her shirt off.’ She was wearing pasties on her nipples, so they were covered
She claimed that the artist, who is named Johnny, told her to get undressed, and then proceeded to call her ‘unsymmetrical’ and make fun of her ‘back rolls’
He allegedly started calling her boobs ‘tits’ and told her, ‘Oh I get why I see you in the gym all the time. You got back rolls’
The TikToker captioned the clip, ‘I just had a panic attack in my car.’
Many viewers were unhappy with the man’s actions and took to the comment section to bash him, with one calling him ‘unprofessional’ and ‘inappropriate.’
‘That man was way out of line. I’d be blasting his name to warn other women’ wrote one person.
Another added: ‘Absolutely unacceptable… Sorry you had to deal with someone like that.
‘Extremely unprofessional, you shouldn’t even have paid him,’ said someone else.
A fourth comment read, ‘No, you are not being dramatic. Artist-client relations with boundaries is highly important.’
‘That is absolutely unacceptable,’ agreed a different user. ‘And men in the tattoo industry like that are the reason why tattoo artists get such a bad rep.’
‘That is so unprofessional and inappropriate. You aren’t crazy. I’m so sorry he treated you that way,’ wrote another viewer.
In the comment section, Dalia also shared his Instagram – which has since been put on private – in an attempt to warn others not to work with him.
Many viewers were unhappy with the man’s actions and took to the comment section to bash him, with one calling him ‘unprofessional’ and ‘inappropriate’
In a follow-up video, Dalia explained why she decided to pay him in the end, despite leaving in the middle and being unhappy with the way she was treated.
In a follow-up video, Dalia explained why she decided to pay him despite being unhappy, explaining that she was worried he would get ‘physical’ if she stiffed him
‘I’m five-foot-one, he’s six-foot plus. We’re in a garage, which is his studio. The only door to get out to my car is the garage door that he has to manually open,’ she said.
‘He’s talking to me like I’m not a human, so I already see how he views me less than him.
‘Who’s to say that he wouldn’t get angry or possibly physical if I were to get up and try to short him his money?’
Dalia admitted that she was worried the man was going to retaliate on her, especially after she shared his social media online.
‘We live in the same area, we go to the same gym, we live 10 minutes apart and this is a small town,’ she added.
‘If I’m driving around, he’s gonna know it’s me because of my pink Jeep. Whose to say he’s not angry that everyone’s been harassing him on social media and he doesn’t come after me or approach me?
‘I blocked him on everything and I’m still scared he’s gonna come see me and say something to me.’
She claimed that since she spoke out, other women have come forward and also accused the man of inappropriate behavior
Dalia said she has now been contacted by other local tattoo artists who want to finish her ink design for free
In a third TikTok, she explained why she decided to share his username with her followers, even though she was nervous about her safety.
And she claimed that other women have since come forward and also accused the man of inappropriate behavior.
‘I was feeling pretty guilty for posting his social media. I was like, I don’t know, this is his livelihood, maybe I made a mistake, maybe he made a mistake,’ she told her viewers.
‘Maybe this was a one time thing, maybe I could have talked to him about it and I was just angry and acted out of turn.
‘But on Instagram and TikTok and Twitter, I am getting messages from women who are letting me know that he also made them feel uncomfortable talking about their bodies and trying to coerce them into giving him and his homeboys rides.
‘Somebody contacted his old job and they got back to them to let them know, this guy got fired from this establishment because he was making women uncomfortable and they had several complaints about him.
‘So I no longer feel bad and I’m just happy that he’s being held accountable.’
Dalia, who said she has now been contacted by other local tattoo artists who want to finish her ink design for free, concluded, ‘I put my experience on the internet, the internet told me that they want to know his name so they could stay away from him.
‘I said, “You know what? That’s a good enough reason for me.” So I put his name out there.’
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