A tattoo artist went viral after she shared a video of herself giving a baby a temporary tattoo. The controversial footage stirred mixed reactions from social media users, with many condemning the woman for "inking" children under the age of 18. Ayala Bratt, 22, is a professional tattoo artist based in Las Vegas, with three years of experience and had full permission from the parents.
Now, she's facing backlash for giving the infant a tattoo to match their parents', the New York Post reported. Bratt posted the video to her TikTok account on Sunday, and has since garnered more than 26 million views on the video-sharing platform.
The father held the child while Bratt gave him a moon-inspired tattoo.
In the 12-second clip, the father is holding the child while Bratt gives what appears to be a temporary stencil tattoo on his leg. The adorable baby laughed as he watched his father snap his fingers to distract him.
“I think opening kids up to the world of tattoos is completely OK,” she said in a statement obtained by The Post. “It’s just art, and it’s a way to express yourself. It’s not just something that is related to gangsters.”
Many viewers criticized Bratt after initially thinking the ink was permanent.
After watching the footage, fellow TikTokers flooded the comment section, criticizing Bratt for what they thought was a permanent tattoo.
“Hell nah I would never do that,” said one user.
“Are they FR por baby,” commented another.
“You can’t tattoo a child under 18 years old! And worse, he is an infant,” a third user wrote.
“I hope it’s a joke?” another viewer wondered.
Other users defended Bratt by pointing out that the stencil tattoo was temporary.
“This is what they do to my baby when we get tattooed, and it makes her very happy,” wrote one user.
“Do people actually think they tattooed a baby?” asked another.
Another user commented: “No one understood this. It’s legit a trend, they only stick the stencil.”
Because Bratt was in Ohio during the tattoo appointment, one user pointed out that the state actually does not have an age requirement for those wanting to get tattoos.
"I'm from ohio and this is true u can get a tattoo at any age," claimed one TikToker.
Bratt has addressed the negative comments she received following the video.
“After sharing my videos on TikTok, there was a mixed reaction,” said Bratt in a statement to The Post. “A lot of it was hate but some were funny.”
According to her website, Bratt believes "tattooing allows one to tell such a beautiful, complex story with such simplicity." She reportedly comes from a conservative Israeli household, but she decided to break away from the lifestyle and turned to tattooing as a way of expression and admiration for the human body.
"Specializing in fine-line and one-line tattooing, Ayala has brought her unique style here to the United States, where she continues to tattoo out of her studio in Las Vegas with plans to expand."
