Sylvester Stallone’s new tattoo tribute to the dog featured in the iconic Rocky movies obscures older ink in honour of his wife.
The Oscar nominee, who has been married to Jennifer Flavin for a quarter-century, replaced the likeness of his wife on his right arm with the visage of his old movie star sidekick Butkus, the Daily Mail reported.
His old tattoo depicts Jennifer’s face near a rose, while the new one shows the face of his former canine co-star in Rocky and Rocky II. Butkus, a bull mastiff, reportedly died of a heart attack over three decades ago.
You can check out a comparison of Stallone’s old and new ink below.
Before and after images of Sylvester Stallone's right bicep.
😂😂😂😂 Tattoos can be a problem 😉 pic.twitter.com/3L39iXN1b0
— Jackie Lumbasi (@JackieLumbasi) August 23, 2022
The tattoo change comes roughly two weeks after Jennifer posted a picture with her daughters on Instagram alongside the caption: “These girls are my priority… nothing else matters. The 4 of us forever.”
Sly was reportedly spotted with the tattoo tribute to his wife three days before her Instagram post, but on 16 August, a tattoo artist posted a tease of the new design on Instagram.
A spokesperson for Sylvester Stallone told the Daily Mail that his new ink was just a tattoo update gone wrong.
“Mr. Stallone intended to refresh the tattoo image of his wife Jennifer however the results were unsatisfactory and, unfortunately, unfixable,” the spokesperson said.
“As a result, he had to cover the original image with a tattoo of his dog from Rocky, Butkus.”
Sylvester loves his family, the spokesperson added.