Like any other marketable niche, tattoos have found their place in the reality television arena. TLC launched Miami Ink in 2005, and it was an undeniable success, spawning a great number of spin-offs and resulting in a huge boost in the popularity of tattoos.
Members of the show's original cast, led by the soft-spoken Ami James, have since gone on to achieve surprising levels of stardom. Kat Von D, in particular, has stayed in the headlines for reasons both good and bad. People from around the world flock to Love Hate Tattoo Studio in Miami to have their dreams inked on them forever. No show is without its share of secrets, though, and, to this day, the original cast continues to get themselves involved in scandals.
Updated on August 31st, 2022 by Tanner Fox: The Miami Ink series may have concluded more than a decade ago, but its influence on the modern reality television landscape can still be felt. From the ever-popular Ink Master series to many of the other celebrated pseudo-documentaries on TLC, Miami Ink helped to establish something of an institution.
Unfortunately, as is always the case with reality television, truth is often stranger than fiction. From behind-the-scenes infighting to all kinds of allegations and controversies, most casual fans of Miami Ink aren't likely to know these secrets.
Chris Nunez And Oliver Peck Were Sued For Harassment
In early 2014, a former PA on the show Ink Master filed a lawsuit against Chris Nunez and Oliver Peck, two tattoo artists from Love Hate Tattoo Studio who were also on Miami Ink. She accused the pair of harassment and unlawful retaliation. Original Media, Viacom, and Spike were also named in the suit.
Nicoletta Robinson claimed that Nunez and Peck acted inappropriately toward her and other set workers from the show. She says at one point, the guys told her she could "go home and suck d***." According to Robinson, the pair also tickled her without consent and made homophobic slurs toward another judge. She also alleges that, when she complained, she was quickly replaced and never called back.
They've Dissed A Bunch Of Celebrity Tattoos
In June of 2016, Chris Nunez and Oliver Peck teamed up with GQ and released a YouTube video. In that video, they critiqued a number of celebrity tattoos. To be fair, Nunez rarely makes a mean comment throughout the video. Peck, however, is a different story.
On Chris Brown's arm tattoo, he said "I'm almost 100% certain that Chris Brown can afford a better tattoo than this." Nunez merely offered that Brown wore a "nice watch" in the photo. About Justin Bieber's body art, Peck said "the one thing we know about Justin Bieber is that, in all senses, he has the worst taste imaginable." On the other hand, the two seemed to genuinely like Zac Efron's YOLO tattoo.
The Truth Behind Kat Von D's Firing
There were several factors that led to Kat Von D's departure from Miami Ink: by several accounts, she was homesick, but her alleged alcoholism may also have played a role. Then, there's the fact that she was quickly offered her own spin-off with L.A. Ink.
Regardless of these speculations, the fact remains that she and Ami James butted heads often during the show's first two seasons. In the second season finale, James finally told her that it was time to go. In an episode that was definitely a ratings smash, cuts between confessionals and the tension-filled scene made for an extremely emotional moment.
Love Hate Tattoo Studio Was Opened To Complete The Show
Miami Ink was undoubtedly a popular show and has spawned a number of spin-offs. During its initial run, though, Ami James and Chris Nunez became tired of playing by the network television playbook. Toward the end of the show's third season, the pair wanted out. At the time, James even said "I never want to work with Discovery again."
The only problem was that TLC owned the rights to the name "Miami Ink." So, the pair opened up Love Hate Tattoo Studio right next door. The show ended shortly after. While Nunez is no longer a partner, the Love Hate brand continues to grow. Meanwhile, the original location of the Miami Ink shop has since become an outlet for the clothing brand DeVille.
NY Ink's Was Cast Specifically With Drama In Mind
The feud between Ami James and Discovery eventually ended, and, before long, James had entered talks with the network for a new show. Eventually, NY Ink saw James returning to TLC, but, this time, he had a much better understanding of how reality television works.
To that end, he only brought one original member of the Miami Ink cast with him. According to James, the fact that everyone on the original show was already friends meant that there wasn't enough drama for the cameras. The new cast purposely featured people who were almost guaranteed not to gel with one another. James said they weren't afraid to expose personal details, making the new show a free-for-all of drama and infighting.
Kat Von D Canceled A Promotional Tour Because Of Jesse James
Kat Von D was once in a relationship with Jesse James—she even had James' face tattooed on her body. In fact, the process of getting that tattoo was filmed and broadcast on Kat Von D's show LA Ink. That said, she broke up with Jesse James not long after that.
Mere moments before she was set to begin filming an interview on LA Today, a clip from that episode was played. Kat Von D was so upset that she stormed off the set and canceled the rest of her promotional tour for LA Ink. She was quoted as saying "lack of compassion n respect for eachother never fails to dissappoint me. (sic)" What's strange is that, according to host Jeff Michaels, Kat was made fully aware that the clip would be played and that the relationship would be a topic of conversation.
XOJane Went After Ami James For Sexism
During the first episode of NY Ink, online magazine xoJane picked up on a problematic moment. Upon meeting fellow tattoo artist Megan Massacre, Chris Torres declares that she's too cute to be a tattoo artist. James objected, although not loudly enough to really quell anything.
One writer at xoJane took issue with the whole event and wrote a scathing piece about it. She reached out to a female tattoo artist who informed her that, unfortunately, this type of behavior is all too common within that realm. Ami responded to her with a statement assering that it's not his job to discipline other grown men. Megan Massacre and Chris Torres eventually ended up dating. Whether or not there was any real misconduct here is obviously up for debate.
Ami Gave Himself His First Tattoo When He Was 13
Ami James has always been a fan of tattoos. He even performed his first professional tattoo before he was 18. It shouldn't come as a surprise, then, that he received his first professional tattoo at just 15 years old.
Two years before that, he performed a different type of tattooing on himself. It's called an Indian Ink tattoo—sometimes known as a 'stick and poke' tattoo—and the process involves a sewing needle, a box of matches, and a cotton swab. Interestingly, xoJane also did a piece on this particular procedure.
Chris Nunez's DUI
Chris Nunez has not had the best relationship with the law. The same year he was sued for harassment, he was also arrested for driving under the influence. In September of 2014, Nunez was pulled over in Florida for running a stop sign. TMZ reported that it was unclear which substance or substances he had taken. He was brought to jail but released several hours later on bail. In his mugshot, Nunez is seen to be smiling and apparently unconcerned.
Ami James has told interviewers he is used to people with tattoos being stereotyped. He says that, at the beginning of his career, he was detained often at airports.
Yoji Had A Cameo In Suicide Club
Yojiro Harada is a tattoo artist, musician—and actor? Harada has only made one film appearance, and it's in the infamous brutal Japanese horror film Suicide Club. Few outside of hardcore horror circles are familiar with the film, as it's not exactly considered digestible for western audiences.
Yoji cameos as a comedian in the film who fortunately doesn't feature in any major scenes. Given the subject matter, it's perhaps for the best that he wasn't seen too often in the movie. Since then, Yoji's activities have been considerably more positive. He continues to grow as a tattoo artist, as well as performing with his punk rock band Bid Deal.