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Shawn Mendes' New Tattoo Takes Flight?
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Pop star Shawn Mendes has some new ink. Is it the beautifully rendered tat that's going viral, or the sexy singer's well-defined torso?
"Soaring to new heights, for my bro @shawnmendes," Los Angeles-based tattoo artist Kane Navasard posted on Instagram on April 13, along with a pic of the fresh new work, which depicts an eagle in flight with spread wings.
The new ink is only the latest addition to Mendes' collection of skin art. He's reported to have about a dozen-and-a-half tats, and a number of them are visible in the photo, including a sun above his right collarbone, a butterfly on his left bicep, and several others.
Mendes himself hasn't posted about the tat – yet – but it did find its way to a fan page on Instagram.
The image spread like wildfire on X, where Gay Twitter shared some thoughts, among them ongoing speculation that Mendes might be part of the LGBTQ+ community – a topic that Mendes himself has addressed, both in his song "The Mountain" and in comments during performances, as when he told an audience that he's "still figuring it out."
More recently, Mendes gave a nod of approval to Bad Bunny's Calvin Klein campaign.
Amongst a flurry of accusations suggesting that Mendes was simply copying Rihanna's similarly placed tat of a winged figure, flocking fans expressed their support... and their thirst.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
