Is Kat Von D closing her LA tattoo business because she’s an antivaxxer?


Kat Von D is making headlines because she’s closing her Los Angeles tattoo studio after 14 years, High Voltage tattoo in West Hollywood, and moving to Indiana. Kat married musician Leafar Seyer in June 2018 and they welcomed a baby they named Leafar Von Drachenberg Reyes in December of that year. Kat announced that she would raise the baby vegan, “without vaccinations,” ahead of his birth. She unconvincingly tried to deny being anti-Semitic and an antivaxxer after backlash over her statements and behavior started affecting sales of her makeup line. She’s since sold her shares in that line to another company and it’s been rebranded KVD Beauty.

In December, 2020 Kat bought a mansion in the town of Vevay, Indiana, but denied that she was moving there full time. She wrote in an Instagram story that she “felt the need to plant roots in a small town” due to California’s high tax rate and “tyrannical government overreach” but that she wasn’t selling her LA home. As Michael K at DListed points out, Kat also violated California’s covid restrictions by having a large indoor Thanksgiving gathering back in 2020. And she supported the recall of Governor Gavin Newsom, which of course was a massive failure.

Now that the county of Los Angeles is about to implement an indoor vaccine mandate, Kat has announced that she’s closing her tattoo business there and moving to Indiana. On the website for High Voltage, I could not find a single line about covid precautions or mask-wearing. Kat doesn’t seem to work there anymore and has six other tattoo artists, all men, listed on the site. Here’s what she wrote on Instagram:

As some of you know, we recently purchased a beautiful home on a bit of land in rural Indiana, and the more time we spend out there we realize we feel more at home there than we do here in LA.

After much thought, we have decided we will permanently be moving to Indiana at the end of this year. We plan on selling our beautiful home here, and I will most likely open a private studio in Indiana once we are done with the house remodel there.

This means that, sadly, I will be closing my beloved tattoo shop @highvoltagetat here in West Hollywood on Dec 1. I didn’t think it would make sense to keep it open if I wasn’t present, and aside from coming back to work on music with my band, we don’t plan on returning to LA very often.

With that being said, we will be celebrating the HvT legacy this next month and a half by tattooing regularly at the shop, and welcome all of you to come and get tattooed by one of my talented fellow artists in the month of November! Appointments are booking up quickly, so I suggest either coming by the shop and setting up time, or going to highvoltagetattoo.com and making your appointment!

[From Instagram]

Kat has a music career now, and her band has been touring and doing shows the last couple of months. So I guess she’s focusing on other things. Incidentally I see zero masks in any of her recent Instagram posts. Apart from the “tyrannical government overreach” post I can’t find where she’s posted about the covid vaccine. She learned in 2018 that speaking out against vaccines affects her businesses. Instead of going full In-N-Out she’s just closing up shop and moving to a state with a republican governor. I doubt she’ll be missed.

From late December of last year:
KatVonDInstagramStoriesDecember

Read the caption below. She posted this in December, 2020 about “so many people coming to the house.”

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41 Responses to “Is Kat Von D closing her LA tattoo business because she’s an antivaxxer?”

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  1. Moderatelywealthy says:

    Duh,.she is a well known Nazi adjacent. I am not sure why people continue to pay her any mind

  2. MaryContrary says:

    Good. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Signed, Californian

  3. A says:


    Good luck to the nice people of Indiana. There’s no way all of you deserve this.

  4. Piratewench says:

    Of course she will feel more at home in freakin rural Indiana. I doubt California will miss her.

  5. Digital Unicorn says:

    This woman has always always irritated the fk out of me – the thirst was always strong with this one.

    • WithTheAmerican says:

      Me too. And her make up was crap. Would be Glad to see her drop out of sight forever! But I suspect she’ll be touring for Cheeto as his D List celebrity woman.

  6. Merricat says:

    I hope she vanishes into the wilds of Indiana, never to be seen or heard from again.

  7. thaisajs says:

    I grew up in rural Indiana. I have no doubt she’ll fit right in. That said, has she considered how little there is to actually do in Indiana? Especially if you’re more than an hour from Indianapolis or, in the northern part of the state, Chicago? Guess she’s about to find out.

    • Mina_Esq says:

      This is what I was thinking too. It may be a beautiful place to visit, but it’s another story when you actually live there and realize that you don’t have quick access to most of the conveniences that you’re used to having back in LA. My brother went through this when he and his family moved to a small community on Lake Huron – beautiful to visit, horror show in the wintertime and when you need anything right away. But, KVD is a Nazi sympathizing anti-vaxx trash (*allegedly*), so the farther removed from society that she is, the better.

    • tealily says:

      Yep. I doubt they’ll stick around full-time after they spend some real time there.

  8. Katherine says:

    I hope she’s not though. In the span of last week, two people me and a few others in my social circle considered anti-vaxxers (we didn’t ask though) turned out to be pro-vax and vaccinated, so I’m cautious to assume about anybody now and I don’t think I posted much with a mask to my social media except for an occasional story here and there and some people might not have caught that. Was just thinking today that I could probably do more to contribute to the conversation. I just don’t feel like anybody would care that much what I think tbh and it would influence anybody….

  9. EduBois says:

    This one – a complete Nazi – moving to the historical home of the KKK. Sounds like she’ll fit right in!

    Stay there, Nazi trash!

    • WithTheAmerican says:

      How did anyone not know? She’s so gross I’m actually celebrating her exit from my former state.

  10. one of the marys says:

    I don’t know if her style is called goth but I love when people maintain such styling at regular everyday places like the fair, the park, the back yard. It totally cracks me up. It’s not a very versatile choice is it

  11. NotSoSocialButterfly says:

    I feel so sorry for that baby and hope he never has any dangerous childhood diseases, much less covid. If he’s not getting his scheduled pediatric vaxes, his immune system isn’t as primed as kids who do, and it may *kill* him. 😞

  12. SJ says:

    She apparently posted several Instagram stories in support of the recall of Governor Newsom, which was fueled by insane republicans who were pissed about our COVID response.

  13. Sof says:

    Is her music any good? I remember back when we didn’t know much about her personal life that she posted some drawings and tattoos, she was really talented.

  14. FancyHat says:

    I just read this whole story and realized I have no idea who she is. For years, I thought she was one of Marilyn Manson’s actor exes.

  15. Pixelated says:

    Yeah, there’s tons of vegan goths willing to pay for expensive tattoos in small-town Indiana /s
    Her decisions are so disappointing. A long time ago, I used to look up to her for being a woman in a male-dominated industry and I loved her passion for art. Now, she’s just become a parody of every anti-vaxxer who thinks they’re special. Sorry, Indiana. I don’t think she’ll last there. She’ll have her temper tantrum about tyranny for awhile and then crave more attention.
    Also…good luck selling her LA home. She used to post photos of her wall to wall red bathroom and super goth interior.

  16. Kathryn K. says:

    I find her completely repulsive.

  17. Andrea says:

    Can we discuss how she spent millions on a goth house all to sell it???

    • MoonTheLoon says:

      She-it, I’ll buy it. It’ll just have to be extremely cheap, to account for the de-lousing and sanitising I’d likely need to do.

  18. H says:

    I was in Ulta the other day and wanted to buy one of her lipsticks, but didn’t because I remembered what CB had posted about her being Nazi trash. Good to know Kat sold all her shares in her beauty company. Guess I can get that lipstick now.

    • Pixelated says:

      Yeah I boycotted her brand until she sold it. I’ve purchased some things from new KVD in part to support a company (Kendo) who takes the initiative to kick out an anti-vaxxer and alleged Nazi. They listened when beautubers
      And other stopped supporting her brand and I appreciate that. I’m sure KVD was butthurt but choices and consequences 🤷‍♀️

      • MoonTheLoon says:

        Don’t be fooled, they were mainly following the money. They may have had feels about her Nazi trashiness. But the lost revenue is what speaks with these companies.

      • goofpuff says:

        If they really cared they would drop the KVD in their name

  19. sassafras says:

    Everything associated with anti-vaxxers needs to be canceled. There should literally be no place in a 21st century society for people who want all the benefits of science and technology but can’t roll up a sleeve to protect others. EFF KVD.

  20. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    I’ve listened to anti-vaxxers for a long time. And now with covid. I. Still. Don’t. Understand. Why would anyone defy science and progress? Do they completely avoid doctors and hospitals? They believe themselves above the fray in their decisions, but it’s a ridiculousness which spotlights a profound stupidity. It’s polar opposite of bravery. It’s like they’re muppets, the ones that don’t speak but simply make noise.

    • tealily says:

      In the early days of the pandemic I honestly thought this would be the thing that would wipe out the anti-vax movement. Now I laugh at my naivety.

  21. tealily says:

    She’s a Nazi (allegedly) and Indiana’s a sh-thole (from my experience). Good luck getting L.A. prices for your work in the rural mid-west.

    • MoonTheLoon says:

      She’s likely relying on her celebrity clientele to come out especially for her work. And they might, for a while. That’s going to dry out, soon as the novelty wears off.

  22. Meee says:

    Is she just planning to live off her money? Or does she think people in rural Indiana are going to get tatted up head to toe? Or will be aesthetically interested in any goods she wants to sell?

  23. Courtney B says:

    Indiana’s governor may suck in other ways (I don’t live there) but he just signed a declaration extending the state’s emergency mandate. And is heavily pushing getting vaccinated. She’d probably do better in Florida. Surprised she’s not headed there actually.

    • MoonTheLoon says:

      Did you not see she carries a parasol to conserve her pallor? This Victorian wannabe would melt into a puddle the moment she touched ground.

  24. UnKaren says:

    Welp, I own both that pagoda parasol and the same sunglasses, used to like them but now…ugh. Ruined.

  25. MarcelMarcel says:

    Her and Jeffree Star (and a few other famous white YT influencers) are total racists. Who actively refused to acknowledge the violent impact of their racist attitudes and always play the victim in public.
    I hope they all just fade into obscurity and relevance since attention & luxury goods is all they seem to care about. So a complete career decline would probably be their personal hell. I wish social media platforms had clearer guidelines around hate speech and racism so complaining would actually do something.

  26. Valerie says:

    Ugh, I used to like her back in the Miami and L.A. Ink days. I was surprised to find out that she was such trash. One of the things that endeared her to me was her personality and the way that she seemed genuinely interested in the people that she was working on and with. Even my mom was a fan, lol, and she hates tattoos. But jfc, once she was revealed as a Nazi, that was it for me.