Tarek El Moussa & Heather Rae Young Spark Controversy With Matching Tattoos 'Reminiscent Of Holocaust'
April 12 2022, Published 12:05 p.m. ET
Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae Young debuted matching new tattoos with their wedding date and while some fans are loving the couple's fresh ink, others are calling the style "tacky."
"10.23.2021🤍TEM #forever," the Selling Sunset star, 34, captioned a photo showcasing the new designs permanently etched onto their arms in addition to their respective initials near their wrists: TEM and HEM.
Tarek, 40, also had the dates 9.22.2010 and 08.20.2015 in honor of the two children he shares with his ex-wife, Christina Haack.
"A tattoo is forever, and so is a marriage!" Heather gushed about their designs, later adding, "This is commitment. This is real commitment."
After sharing the close-up black-and-white snapshots, it didn't take long for fans to sound off. One social media user felt the tattoos were "reminiscent" of those given to concentration camp prisoners during the Holocaust. "This is a no from me," they added in the comments. "Yikes … numbers on your arms. Seriously?!?!" another wrote.
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"This is absolutely BIZARRE and beyond insensitive to show since it resembles the horror of the Holocaust. What's wrong with you???????" a third questioned while a fourth sought out answers from the pair, adding a comment stating, "Please let us know what your Jewish coworkers say after they see these. Just wow."
Before the backlash, Tarek commemorated the experience in his own Instagram post, revealing that it has been a long time since he visited a tattoo parlor.
"I got my first tattoo almost 25 years ago and it was so bad [I] promised myself I'd never get another! Yesterday, I broke my promise," the real estate investor wrote. "This time, it’s not an all black crooked tribal on my back, it’s something extremely meaningful."
"And because it's meaningful, it feels different and I'll always love it! It started out as just @heatherraeyoung and I getting our wedding date. Last minute, before we got there, I decided I also really wanted the kids birthdays and her initials!" Tarek continued, noting he still has room for his "future" child or children that he may welcome with Heather.
Tarek and Heather tied the knot last year in an Old Hollywood-themed ceremony held in Montecito, California.