Batista Covered Manny Pacquiao Tattoo After Homophobic Statement

Dave Bautista is one of the most in-demand actors in the industry right now and there is a good reason for that. On the other hand, Manny Pacquiao is touted as one of the top boxers in the world of professional boxing as he has faced the best of the best the sport has to offer. Batista used to have a lot of respect for Manny, as both of them are Filipino. However, Batista ended up covering his Manny Pacquiao tattoo after the latter’s homophobic statement.

While speaking during a recent sit-down interview with GQ, Dave Bautista talked about the meaning behind some of the tattoos he’s gotten over the years. This included one he got to cover-up one inspired by Manny Pacquiao.

Bautista did not mention the boxer by name but spoke about the Team Pacquiao tattoo he had covered up in response to homophobic comments made by Pacquiao in 2016. Back then, the boxer was heavily criticized when he said that marriages between two people of the same gender “are worse than animals.” 

“It used to be a team logo,” Bautista said. “I was part of a team of a person I considered a friend and someone I really looked up to. And then, he later came out publicly with some anti-gay statements and turned out to be an extreme homophobe. And so, I had a huge issue with it. 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 it covered up with this.”

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Batista also never aspired to follow in The Rock’s footsteps as an actor. Batista is very opinionated and will never stray from his beliefs no matter what. In the end, The Animal has a right to his opinion and that’s all that matters to him.

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