Dave Bautista used to be a huge friend and supporter of Manny Pacquiao until the Filipino boxing champ revealed his homophobia in 2016 by saying that gay people are “worse than animals.” At the time, Bautista didn’t mince words when TMZ cameras caught up with him.
“My mom happens to be a lesbian, so I don’t f**king take that sh*t. I don’t think it’s funny,” an angry Bautista said. “If anyone called my mother an animal, I’d stick my foot in his ass.”
As it turns out, Bautista didn’t just cut Pacquiao out of his life, he literally removed him from his body. The wrestler turned actor recently revealed to GQ that he used to have a Pacquiao tattoo on his left forearm, but he had it covered up following the controversial incident.
@gq Dave Bautista on why he got one of his coverup tattoos #GQ #TattooTour #WWE #DaveBautista #MCU #Tattoos #Bautista
Via PEOPLE:
“It used to be a team logo,” he said in a clip shared to TikTok. “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.”
“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,” Bautista added, displaying the updated ink of a woman with a sugar skull face painting.
When it comes to his support of the LGBTQ community, Bautista doesn’t mess around. Here he is supporting his mom during Pride Month in 2022, and encouraging others to “BE LOUD, BE PROUD, BE YOU.”
(Via PEOPLE)