7 Celebs Who Had to Erase Their Love Tattoos

Don't let your mother tell you otherwise: Tattoos are so not permanent. That's great news for Melanie Griffith, who just erased evidence of Antonio Banderas' name from her tattoo not even two weeks after officially announcing they are divorcing after 18 years of marriage.

Erasing the "Antonio" off her bicep is just one more piece of evidence that indicates this split is for real, but while Griffith may be hiding her tat from sight, the tattoo itself is not really gone. From the appearance of the tattoo at Italy's Taormina Film Festival, it seems that Griffith used makeup to hide the "Antonio" part of her tattoo, which sits in the middle of a large heart. Though the tattoo hasn't been permanently removed, Griffith covering it up is a big statement in itself — she's showing the world that she's taking the split seriously and is moving on with her life.

Sure, most tattoos can be removed or covered up, but I can't help but think that Griffith wouldn't be forced to go through all this trouble had she and Banderas exchanged matching bracelets, instead. That's not a knock on tattoos — I have a few of my own — but tattoos can last a lot longer than relationships. If you get a tattoo representing your current significant other, there's always the possibility that, one day, you'll have to figure out how to deal with that tattoo of your ex's name.

Here are 6 celebrities who had to figure out what to do about the ink left over from their breakup.

Brody Jenner

Brody Jenner got a very tacky tattoo of Avril Lavigne's name on his forearm in 2010, shortly after the two started dating. Unfortunately, they broke up in 2012. Lavigne also got inked with Jenner's name, though her tattoo was in cursive and his looked like it was scribbled on by a middle schooler.

Dean McDermott

This one wasn't even a name as much as it was a full picture of his wife, Tori Spelling. Their marriage took a crazy turn recently, and while they aren't getting a divorce yet , there's no way that these two are making it for the long haul. Could the tattoo be a bad omen? Maybe... or that bad omen could be the cheating, and lying, and being awful to one another. (It's all documented on True Tori, the reality show that chronicles their marriage problems.) Either way, McDermott must feel awful about the whole cheating scandal, given that he has Tori staring up at him from his forearm.

Marc Anthony

Marc Anthony will never learn. After getting his tattoo of ex-wife Jennifer Lopez covered up, Anthony got a new tattoo for his 24-year-old girlfriend, Shannon De Lima... in the exact same place. A sassy Tinker Bell tattoo would have been a better idea at this point.

Denise Richards

Denise Richards had her "Charlie" tattoo (yes, for ex-husband Charlie Sheen) covered up with a fairy because no one wants a reminder that they married Charlie Sheen.

Heidi Klum

Post-divorce, Heidi Klum got her tattoo of her ex-husband's name, Seal, removed from her arm. She could have saved a lot of time and money had she just claimed to be a really big supporter of marine life.

Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp got a tattoo in honor of his then-girlfriend Winona Ryder, which said "Winona Forever." Umm, clearly that was not the case. When the infamous '90s couple officially split up, Depp altered his tattoo to say "Wino Forever," which someone really should tell him is not at all better.