LA Ink's resident inking diva, Kat Von D, finds herself in the midst of a highly charged controversy involving a photograph she allegedly signed with an anti-Semitic statement.  The picture has apparently made its way to TMZ.

For her part, Kat Von D has wasted no time in refuting the offensive autographed headshot.  She wrote a lengthy and impassioned entry on her MySpace blog, as well as personally calling the autographed image a forgery when TMZ caught up with her on the streets of Hollywood over the weekend.

The whole debacle reportedly stems from a picture of Kat which she then allegedly scribbled with the words “Burn in Hell Jewbag” along with a drawing of a flaming Star of David and a swastika attached to her signature.  The LA Ink star then allegedly sent the picture to her Jewish former boss at Miami Ink, Ami James.

While nobody reportedly actually saw Kat write the anti-Semitic message, Chris Garver, another tattoo artist on Miami Ink, told TMZ that the LA Ink mainstay personally handed him the photo.

Kat has issued repeated rebuttals of the situation.  She has issued a statement through her publicist, written extensively about it on her MySpace blog and personally told TMZ that the entire thing is a forgery that's been unleashed by jealous folk.

"The recent accusation of a publicity photo of me with offensive and anti-Semitic comments and graphics allegedly written by me is completely false and unfounded, and clearly a forgery,” Kat's personal publicist said in a statement.  “This was already proven many months ago to be 100 percent untrue.  I always have been, and will continue to be an advocate for tolerance of all races, religions and ways of life."

The LA Ink artist also expressed her disgust over the controversy via a lengthy MySpace post.  Here are a few excerpts from that entry:

“I cannot begin to tell you how disgusted and disappointed I am with the recent rumors that started circulating around town, all of which are COMPLETELY FALSE.”

“La Ink was a success, and all the hard work truly paid off.  But while everyone around us was supportive and happy for us, jealousy and fear grew in others, causing a feeling of desperation.  The next thing you know this fake 8x10 thing pops up, with much surprise to me. I mean, the first time I saw the actual photo with the writing on it, I almost puked, considering, those are things I would NEVER even think about, let alone write!  After serious investigation, all conclusions proved that it was NOT ME who wrote that junk.”

For its part, TLC, the network that carries LA Ink has also issued a statement in support of Kat Von D's innocence:  "A publicity photo was brought to the network's attention eight months ago that contained extraordinarily offensive language.  A full investigation was immediately conducted to determine whether anyone associated with the network was involved.  Kat vehemently denied authoring the text and after completing the investigation, it was determined that insufficient evidence existed to conclude that she had.  Therefore, no disciplinary action was taken.  The network always takes these matters seriously and follows what we believe to be an appropriate course of action as dictated by the circumstances and available information."


-Rosario Santiago, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: TMZ, Kat Von D MySpace
(Image Courtesy of TMZ)