Dave Bautista Covered Up Manny Pacquiao Tattoo When Boxer Made Homophobic Comments

Dave Bautista isn’t tolerant of people who are homophobic.

The Glass Onion actor told GQ that he had to cover up a tattoo after a former friend made derogatory remarks about the LGBTQIA+ community. The 53-year-old described how the tattoo was a logo for Manny Pacquiao’s team, though Bautista didn’t mention him by name.

“It used to be a team logo,” Bautista said in a GQ TikTok. “I was part of a team of a person I considered a friend and someone I really looked up to. And then, he later came out publicly with some anti-gay statements and turned out to be an extreme homophobe.”

“So, I had a huge issue with it,” he continued. “It’s a personal issue with me, my mom’s a lesbian. And I just could no longer call him a friend. So, I had it covered up with this.” The logo was replaced with a portrait of a woman.

According toPeople, back in 2016, Pacquiao compared gay people to animals. “The animals are better. They know how to distinguish male from female,” Pacquiao told Filipino station TV5. “If we approve [of] male on male, female on female, then man is worse than animals.” He added, “It’s common sense.”

When Bautista caught wind of Pacquiao’s comments, he called the 44-year-old a “fucking idiot” in an interview with TMZ. “I don’t think it’s funny,” Bautista added. “Let’s put it like this, if anyone called my mother an animal, I’d stick my foot in his ass.”

Even though Pacquiao expressed regret for the comparison, he still isn’t pro-LGBTQIA+. “This does not change my position against same-sex marriage. That’s what I believe,” he said. “My only mistake is comparing gay people to animals.”