Why Is Ben Katzman's Tattoo Covered by a Bandage on 'Survivor'?

Since Season 46 of Survivor began airing on Feb. 28, 2024, metal and rock fans have been rooting particularly hard for Ben Katzman. Ben is a fellow rock lover, and he has made that a huge part of his personality on the show.

Following the episode that aired on March 20, though, many started to notice that the tattoo that Ben has on his chest was covered by a bandage. Naturally, you may have wondered why the tattoo was covered, and what it might be of. Here's what we know about Ben's tattoo, and why it was covered up.

Ben's tattoo was likely covered because of copyright concerns, and if you look at his Instagram page, it's perhaps unsurprising to discover that the tattoo is directly related to his passion for metal. The tattoo appears to be of Allister Fiend, the mascot for the band Motley Crue.

Allister was never put on any of the band's albums, but he appeared frequently on the band's merch, and perhaps most regularly on t-shirts.

Depending on the t-shirt, Alister's appearance varied slightly. He always seems to be rocking a mullet that covers his eyes, fangs for teeth, and some sort of vest. He's also usually holding something in his hands, although what exactly he's holding can vary from image to image.

It seems only natural that Ben would show his love for music this way, but the tattoo likely had to be covered up because CBS doesn't have the rights from Motley Crue to show it on TV.

That may be slightly uncomfortable for Ben, but it's only an issue for him when he goes shirtless. Of course, going shirtless is going to be a fairly frequent occurrence when you're competing on Survivor. Still, given his love for the band and rock more generally, it seems like a sacrifice he's more than willing to make.

In an interview with Loudwire, Ben explains that he initially didn't want to compete on Survivor, despite being a fan of the show. Ben explained that he had a pretty creative way to get prepared for his time on the series.

"First, I made this mixtape of all my favorite songs that pump me up, and I put my favorite movie quotes. And when I say mixtape, I legitimately mean a cassette player mixtape [holds up cassette player]," he said.

Ben also said that he had lived with a restricted diet before because he knew what it was like to be on the road.

"You can only prepare so much because a lot of it comes down to who you're cast with. You don't know what anything's going to feel like until that moment where something happens," he added.

"The last month and a half where I should have trained, I was on tour. And when you're on tour, you don't have time to go to the gym or go running. I was in Europe taking buses, partying, performing, not resting... I got home, had like a week off and then headed out to Fiji," Ben continued.