Little Mix’s Jesy Nelson Got A Tattoo Of A Gun And People Are Not Impressed

Little Mix singer Jesy Nelson took to Instagram earlier today to reveal two new tattoos – a red letter ‘Q’ to symbolise the Queen of Hearts on her face, and a gun on her ribcage. It’s not often that facial ink is be overshadowed but, in 2018, an etching of a firearm will do just that.

In a now deleted post, the 27-year-old revealed the tattoos to her 4.5million followers. Rather than explain the meaning of the weapon imagery, she simply captioned the gallery of images with a thank you message to the artist.

Critics have been quick to accuse Jesy of glorifying guns, especially considering her young and impressionable fanbase. Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan blasted Jesy as “irresponsible and stupid” while Made In Chelsea star Ollie Locke slammed the ink as “childish”.

“Was there really a need to get a tattoo of a gun?” one Instagram user commented. “I mean come on, the millions of girls who look up to you who now think guns are OK or cool because you’ve tattooed one on your body….”

“What do @CalvinKlein think about their brand being linked with Jesy Nelson’s gun tattoo?” wondered another Twitter user.

The criticism comes as the Gun Violence Archive reports there have been 52,632 gun violence incidents so far this year in the United States, resulting in 13,495 deaths.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqaSzuulPSb/

However, many have jumped to Jesy’s defence, pointing out that it’s her body and she shouldn’t be criticised or forced to explain the decisions she makes about it, and that it’s far-fetched to claim a tattoo will influence crime.

Others have argued that the critique of a tattoo detracts from the important discussion of gun violence itself while still others noted that Rihanna also has a tattoo of a gun, which she has previously called a “symbol of strength”, as do footballers Damien Delaney, Alberto Moreno, and Raheem Sterling.

https://twitter.com/cooke_11sydney/status/1070300531028037632

• Little Mix