Remember, Ed Sheeran's giant lion tattoo? Well, it's a fake.
The British singer admitted that the tattoo, which received quite a bit of criticism earlier this month, was not real. Sheeran posted a photo of his bare and ink-free chest on Instagram Wednesday, with the caption, "Was only joking about the lion."
Earlier this month, the "Thinking Out Loud" singer showed off his massive to symbolize his three sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium in London, BBC reported. Wembley is the home of England's national football team and the lion is the English soccer team's logo.
"Lion is courtesy of @kp_est78, who puts up with me complaining about the pain," Sheeran tweeted at the time, to which tattoo artist Kevin Paul replied, "Can't wait to start the rest it's going to be amazing love you dude xxx."
Unexpectedly, Sheeran found himself defending his new ink to both fans and social media users, including Keane rocker Tom Chaplin, who tweeted about the tattoo, calling it a "really bad picture of a lion," and said he hoped it was a prank. Sheeran replied, "I like it and that's the only opinion that matters."
Chaplin apologized for his comment, writing, "you don't need my jaded old opinion!"
Sheeran, who stated at the time that his new ink job was only half way done, also addressed the negative comments he received about his tattoo.
"All this kerfuffle over a tattoo. If it was black and white saying a clever phrase in a language I can't speak no one would've said anything," tweeted Sheeran. "It's not the first weird tattoo I've got and it won't be the last, but I like all of them. I'm also eating a bowl of pasta now so byeziez x."
Sheeran has several tattoos celebrating major career achievements.
