Some wear their hearts on their sleeves. Others wear convicted sex offenders on their biceps. The phrase “Rolf Harris tattoo” is now often used online to accuse someone of poor judgement, lack of foresight or even possessing a hard drive in urgent need of checking. But what happens when the person you immortalised in ink as a hero is later exposed as a sex offender? How do you live with a permanent tribute to someone whose reputation has been eternally destroyed? Does it get covered once they’ve been uncovered?

“I’ve had some requests which leave me baffled. I’ve turned away so many people who want something on their body which can only be looked at as offensive”

“I’ve had some requests which leave me baffled. I’ve turned away so many people who want something on their body which can only be looked at as offensive”

With Harris now going down in history for his indecent assaults on girls rather than his “music” or “art”, it may feel difficult to imagine why anyone ever wanted his name or face permanently etched into their skin. Yet there was an ironic appeal for a time.

In a 2022 Tweet, one man claims his friend acquired a Rolf Harris tattoo on his calf in the 1990s, “that period when Rolf did ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and was briefly popular in universities”. In 2015, Australian comedian Frenchy posted on Instagram a photograph of a fan’s tattoo of Harris’ name and a cartoon of such poor quality it could easily be a copy of one of Rolf’s. “This chick has a Rolf Harris tattoo”, he captioned it, adding: “Last night at my Newcastle show, she got up on stage and showed everyone #BestTattEver.”

Comedian Amy Gledhill told podcaster Richard Herring that she was, by her own admission, “not sober” at a house party when, listening to Harris’ song ‘Fine Day’, she urged a friend who could do “prison tattoos” – a phrase that would later acquire an unfortunate layer of irony – to permanently inscribe “Rolf” beneath one of her breasts and “Harris” under the other. Harris’ crimes were not yet publicly known. Indeed, Gledhill envisioned the tattoos as a romantic entrance exam, as only those in a “privileged position” would see them.

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