Cara Delevingne posed topless in a gallery of Instagram pictures that display her new tattoo, then defended her decision against mounting backlash.
The famous actress showed off some new ink on her arm, and opted to take off her bra and cup her breast to fully showcase the artwork. Fans immediately criticized the star for removing her bra, saying that was an unnecessary move, considering the placement of the tattoo. “Everyone calm down please,” Delevingne fired back in a comment.
Delevingne’s tattoo takes up the majority of the space on her upper arm, between her shoulder and her elbow. Below the detailed artwork is a sentence written in small font, which defines the Italian word “dormiveglia” as “the place that stretches between sleeping and walking.”
The topless images of Delevingne were posted to Instagram by tattoo artist Matteo Nangeroni, alongside the caption, “•Dormiveglia for Cara• It was an honour and a pleasure to meet you🖤.”
Delevingne and Nangeroni may have been in impressed by the art, but critics suggested that the artist had objectified or exploited Delevigne with the nude photo.
“You really needed to put [her] naked for an arm tattoo?” wrote one Instagram user.
“If this was a famous male celebrity would you have them topless too? Seems unnecessary… 🤔” wrote another.
“As a woman, I’d never go to a male artist who posed a client needlessly topless. Do better,” another critic posted.
The 31-year-old model and actress explained her decision in an attempt to silence the haters.
“Just to be clear to everyone! I chose to take my bra off, the picture didn’t look good with my bra on,” Delevingne wrote in the comments section. “I am a perfectionist especially when it comes to photography and I was trying to help make something beautiful. . Thank you x.” (RELATED: ‘I Don’t Care About My Life’: Cara Delevingne Describes The Depths Of Her Addiction)
That wasn’t enough for some haters, who continued to troll the star for what appears to be a spelling mistake on the tattoo.
Many people weighed in to say the ink should have read, “between sleeping and waking,” instead of “walking.” The star didn’t address those comments or clarify if that was intentional or if was an actual spelling error. The Cambridge Dictionary defines the word as “half-asleep” or “semi-conscious.”