Kat Von D shares tattoo update after blacking out entire body following ‘first-of-its-kind’ lawsuit

If you’ve been keeping tabs on the progress of Kat Von D’s blackout tattoo, you’ll be glad to know she recently shared an update.

The former LA Ink star, 43, previously explained she made the decision to cover up the various symbols, designs and portraits on her skin after becoming ‘fed up’ of them.

In 2020, she sat for 17 sessions, which spanned over a course of almost 40 hours, to conceal the ‘landmarks in time’ which decorated her body.

“I personally grew tired of waking up to them, and seeing those constant reminders every time I looked in a mirror,” Von D told fans at the time.

‘”Also, I really love the aesthetic,” she said of opting for a blackout tattoo. “I know it’s not for everyone but it is very satisfying to me to see a clean slate when I look down onto my arms.”

The makeup mogul told Inked Magazine last year that she reached out to a blackout specialist named Hoode with the intention of him covering up the inkings on her forearm.

Kat Von D showed off her elaborate inking to fans in a social media post last month (Instagram/@thekatvond)

“But shortly after, I knew I would end up tattooing my whole body,” Von D added.

Around 80 percent of her skin is now adorned in black ink and in an Instagram post shared last month, the reality TV star showed off her unique look.

She shared a video to social media which documented her visit to The Bone Museum in Brooklyn, New York, with her child Leafar Von D Reyes, 6, on 19 August.

In the clip, the mother and son were seen admiring an array of skeletons and skulls, while fans dually got a glimpse at how her blackout tattoo has settled.

The footage shows how the majority of Von D’s arms are covered – aside from a portrait of her father that remains on one of her limbs – but her chest area remains fairly bare.

She began her extreme makeover after she ended up embroiled in a legal battle with photographer Jeff Sedlik, which left her wanting to ‘never’ pick up a tattoo gun again.

The college professor and professional snapper sued Von D in 2017 for copyright infringement.

In the ‘first-of-its-kind’ lawsuit, he claimed that Von D had replicated a 1989 portrait he took of jazz icon Miles Davis without giving him proper credit or compensation.

A jury ended up ruling in her favour after a two-year legal battle, with the music star claiming Sedlik filed the lawsuit to get ‘his 15 minutes of fame – and a fat pay cheque’.

“I know first-hand what it feels like to be ripped off by people, and there’s not one part of me that believes tattooing fan art is a crime,” Von D told Inked Magazine.

“I’m just so grateful that the jurors took their time and unanimously agreed. I have a feeling setting precedence like that will only help tattooers and other artists in the future.

She blacked out her tattoos after growing ‘fed up’ of the designs on her skin (Instagram/@thekatvond)

“I lost weight, I lost hair, and I lost many nights of sleep over it. As much as I knew this person didn’t deserve a penny from me, there were times that I wanted to settle just to make it stop.

“But I knew if I didn’t fight, the damage to the tattoo industry and other artists would be so immense, that I couldn’t live with myself.”

Von D also said of the impact the court ordeal had on her: “I think I don’t want to ever tattoo again; my heart has been crushed through this in different ways.”

The Mexico-born star swapped life in Los Angeles for a more ‘rural’ way of life in Indiana in 2021, with her family moving into the historic Benjamin Schenck Mansion.

The following year, she renounced witchcraft and revealed she was removing all the occult items from her home as she wanted to return to Christianity.