A woman has been left horrified after finding out the real meaning of her tattoo.
Texas-based prison nurse Jelisa Miller recently discovered that the inking she proudly got as a teenager, believing it was a tribute to Nicki Minaj, carries a very different, and far more dangerous meaning.
Miller recalled the moment she learned the truth about her tattoo, and the incident quickly caught a lot of attention online.
At 18, Miller was a devoted fan of Nicki Minaj and inspired by the rapper’s song ‘5 Star Chick,’ which had just been released at the time.
“Back in the day, when I was young and dumb, I was a huge Nicki Minaj fan,” she explained in her viral TikTok. “Like, I wanted to be her so bad.”
Eager to celebrate her admiration, she visited a tattoo parlor with a friend and asked the artist to tattoo ‘five star chick’ on her wrist.
“I walk into the tattoo shop and I tell the man, ‘I want you to put five stars on me, because I’m a five-star chick,’” Miller said.
The final design featured five prominent stars — a look she wore with pride for years.
However, it wasn’t until she began her career as a nurse in a correctional facility that Miller learned the truth.
Surrounded by gang-affiliated inmates and trained in identifying gang symbols, Miller was shocked to discover that her tattoo is nearly identical to an established gang emblem.
“I get older, I become a nurse, I work in a prison — and I find out that these five stars are affiliated with a gang,” she said. “This is literally a gang tattoo.”
What she once viewed as a fun nod to her music idol is now something that could pose a serious misunderstanding in a high-risk environment.
“Now I gotta explain to all these inmates that I’m not affiliated,” she joked. “I’m just a Nicki fan!”
Understanding the potential implications, both professionally and personally, Miller has decided to get the tattoo covered up.
“I never imagined something tied to a song I loved could also mean something so different in another world,” she said. “So now I’m getting it covered, because yeah, no thank you.”
You can watch the video via ARK Media.