Oliver Peck Departs From Ink Master Amid Blackface Scandal

Tuesday night, “Ink Master” judge Oliver Peck announced his departure from Paramount Network’s “Ink Master.” For the past 13 seasons, Peck has worked as a judge alongside fellow tattoo artist Chris Nunez and Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro. Peck shared that he would be leaving the show via a post on his personal Instagram page, writing, “After filming 13 great seasons of Ink Master, the producers and I have decided it’s best to part ways.”

Peck’s departure comes after multiple photographs surfaced of the tattooer wearing blackface. The photos were taken from Peck’s MySpace page and were shared throughout social media late last week.

Hours before Tuesday night’s Season 13 premiere, “Ink Master” released a statement to Instagram regarding Peck, sharing, “We, like many others, were appalled when we saw the photos of Oliver. We were glad to see his apology and accept that he is taking full responsibility for the damaging impact of his actions.”

Prior to announcing his departure, Peck posted an apology to Instagram on January 4th, writing, “I want to profusely apologize for my completely inappropriate, insensitive and immature behavior.

“I look that those photos and it’s hard for me to believe that I could have been so clueless, insensitive and dumb,” the statement continues. “I hope that I’ve matured a great deal since then and I’m deeply sorry for everyone I’ve offended. I was 100% wrong to depict myself in this way and I take full responsibility for my immature, misguided perspective, total lapse of judgement and insensitivity. Those of you that know me know my heart, and I am grateful to my friends, family, colleagues, clients and fans who have allowed me to apologize and learn from this mistake. I can only hope that those of you that I don’t know, and anyone I have offended, can also find it in your hearts to accept my sincere apology.”

This season of “Ink Master” has already completed filming, thus Peck will continue to appear throughout it. Paramount has not issued a statement about how they will handle the season’s finale, which is traditionally shot live. There is also no word as to whether the show plans to replace Peck moving forward, or if they will carry on with two judges. In May 2019, it was announced that the show had been ordered for a 14th season—which will likely premiere in either Fall 2020 or Spring 2021.