Fact Check: About That Rumor That Kristen Bell Has 214 Tattoos
Claim:
Actor Kristen Bell has 214 tattoos.
Rating:
Many celebrities are known to be quite fond of tattoos. One of singer Ed Sheeran's 60-plus tattoos matches another tattoo that fellow musician Harry Styles has. Blink-182' drummer Travis Barker has estimated his tattoos cover around 70% of his body, saying they "all tell a story and make up who I am."
But does "The Good Place" actor Kristen Bell have hundreds of tattoos that cover her body?
Since at least 2012, claims have spread that Bell has 214 tattoos, some of which were allegedly self-done. We found the claim in blog posts, as well on social media platforms like Reddit, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook through videos that included the claim.
However, the tattoos aren't real. As we found in a 2015 fact-check, the videos showing Bell covered in tattoos came from a sketch for the Funny or Die comedy website released on Jan. 7, 2012. We found the sketch was also posted to Funny or Die's YouTube account on Jan. 24, 2012:
While the humorous nature of the skit may seem obvious, viewers may have been deceived after watching the video of Bell stripped of its original context.
Bell has also said in other media appearances that she doesn't have tattoos. In a 2016 Wired video, she said that she always wanted a tattoo, but her husband, actor and "Armchair Expert" podcast host Dax Shepard, "does not like girls with tattoos."
We have previously reported about other alleged celebrity tattoos, including an image that claimed to show musician Jimi Hendrix covered in tattoos while riding a dune buggy.
Sources:
Evon, Dan. "FACT CHECK: Did a Tattooed Jimi Hendrix Ride a Dune Buggy?" Snopes, 24 Oct. 2017, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/did-a-tattooed-jimi-hendrix-ride-a-dune-buggy/.
---. "Is Kristen Bell the Most-Tattooed Actress?" Snopes, 10 Feb. 2015, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kristen-bell-tattoos/.
Funny Or Die. Kristen Bell's Body of Lies. 2012. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKSwIuom5c8.
Kristen Bell's Body of Lies – Page 182762 – Funny Or Die. https://funnyordie.com/2012/1/07/17713510/kristen-bells-body-of-lies/. Accessed 1 May 2024.
Lockett, John. "Travis Barker Talks Tattoos and Pain." GQ, 19 Aug. 2016, https://www.gq.com/story/travis-barker-blink-182-tattoos-and-pain.
Maoui, Zak. "Ed Sheeran's Tattooist Reveals the Stories behind the Singer's Best Inkings." British GQ, 12 Mar. 2020, https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/grooming/article/ed-sheeran-tattoos.
WIRED. Melissa McCarthy & Kristen Bell Answer The Web's Most Searched Questions | WIRED. 2016. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXa1vN_XmTo.
