Is this viral Toronto Blue Jays champions tattoo real?
CBC
Tattoos can be a permanent reminder of an important person, a special memory or — in the case of a London, Ont., tattoo artist — a crushing Toronto Blue Jays World Series loss.
A video posted on The Hive Tattoos’ Instagram and TikTok accounts on Oct. 31 shows artist Kyle Johnson with a Blue Jays logo on his leg as another artist seemingly begins tattooing the words “World Series Champions 2025” above it.
The video went viral after the Jays lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday, racking up more than 120,000 views and thousands of comments on each platform. Some poked fun at the video, saying it “didn’t age well” and that Johnson would need to get the tattoo covered up.
That is, unless the tattoo is fake.
“We did the logo, and then we got this great idea to add that they were already 2025 champions. We put the stencil on, it looked great, but we didn’t go through with it,” Johnson told CBC’s Afternoon Drive on Monday.
Johnson said that while a tattoo machine and ink can be seen in the video, the needle was not out to make the artwork permanent.
“It was on there and ready to go, we just couldn’t commit,” he said. “We didn’t want to be the jinx that everyone thinks we are today.”
Johnson said most of the feedback on the video has been around superstition, with several people saying the tattoo caused the Jays to lose.
“There’s been a lot of Dodgers fans thanking us, a lot of Jays fans that are really mad, and a lot of people just thinking we’re crazy for doing it,” he said.
“We’ve had people asking, ‘What’s this guy’s [username] or what’s his address?’” Johnson said. “We just want to let everyone know we’re not the actual jinx. I think it just came down to a game of inches – it’s baseball.”
The Hive Tattoos team posts regularly on its social media accounts and is no stranger to virality. One of their 2024 Instagram reels has more than 5 million views, and Johnson said he had a hunch the fake Jays tattoo video would “blow up.”
“Any marketing is good marketing, but you also look a bit like a clown to the rest of the world,” he said.
While the tattoo was fake, Johnson said his love for the Jays is real. He's a life-long fan roots for the Canadian team no matter what.
“At the end of the day, I really just wanted them to win,” he said.
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