Joe Manganiello Debuts Divorce Ink

By Kase Wickman

We all deal with major life changes and external expressions of our big internal feelings in different ways. Maybe we turn to the time-honored question of, “should I get bangs?” as an answer to emotional turmoil. Maybe we change up our style a little. Or maybe, just maybe, we get some fresh ink.

It’s a road walked by Ben Affleck, he of the enormous post-divorce phoenix back tat (long live ex-wife Jennifer Garner’s iconic “bless his heart” response, and snaps to Affleck’s brusband Matt Damon’s winking support, saying that “some friends take this generous approach to friendship and say, ‘I love you . . . just the way you are . . . even now, with your large back mural’”), and now it appears to be one Joe Manganiello is also treading.

In July, Manganiello and Sofía Vergara announced that they were separating after seven years of marriage. Vergara headed to Italy for a girls’ trip, and somewhere along the way, Manganiello found his way to a tattoo parlor, acquiring a bold wrist-to-elbow piece spotted last week while the actor was out and about in California.

Artist Ruben Malayan, who specializes in Armenian calligraphy, posted a photo of Manganiello and his new ink to his Instagram account Wednesday.

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Manganiello’s piece translates to “angel” in Armenian, in what appears to be a nod to the Magic Mike actor’s genealogical history. On PBS’s Finding Your Roots in February 2023, Manganiello told the story of his great-grandmother surviving the Armenian Genocide in 1915, though her husband and seven of her eight children were shot and killed. She had also been shot, but played dead.

“She laid there unmoving and the Turks left the house and left the eighth child, who was an infant in the crib, to starve to death, which is just the way that they did business,” he said. Sadly, the child drowned while strapped to her back, as Manganiello’s ancestor had to swim across the Euphrates River to escape.

“She had a bullet in her still, and to my understanding, she lived in a cave with other refugees until she was picked up by German military,” Manganiello said.

As for where Vergara and Manganiello currently stand, Manganiello reportedly filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences” two days after the joint statement announcing their separation. Manganiello's Instagram bio, however, still identifies him as a “chihuahua dad," though the pup in question, Bubbles, recently made a cameo on Vergara's feed. Perhaps they have joint custody.

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