Tyson's face tattoo quickly proved iconic and has become strongly associated with him. Its Māori influence has been controversial, spurring claims of cultural appropriation. In 2011, Whitmill filed a copyright suit against Warner Bros. for using the design on the character Stu Price in The Hangover Part II. Warner Bros. responded with a number of defenses, including that tattoos are not copyrightable; supporting them, scholar David Nimmer argued that it violated the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution—which prohibits slavery—to give Whitmill copyright over part of Tyson's body. After initial comments by Judge Catherine D. Perry denying an injunction but affirming that tattoos are copyrightable, Whitmill and Warner Bros. settled for undisclosed terms, without disruption to the release of the film.

Tyson's new, mellowed state has finally allowed him to get real about his decision to get the tattoo. It boils down to caprice that reflects his drug-addled period. In an interview from 2012, posted on YouTube, Tyson states that he was intending to get "a bunch of hearts and stuff" on his face because he wanted to be known as "The Man of Hearts." Tyson's tattoo artist, Victor Perez, straight-up refused, and instead drafted some tribal patterns. "I just thought it was so hot," Tyson says. "I would be in these dens, these clubs and strip places sometimes and all the girls said 'oh you are very exotic, where are you from?'"

Session one pic of my @niki23gtr "Gizmo (from the Gremlins) hiding/staring from behind a bottle of Louis XIII" tattoo we started on my leg yesterday…. Excuse the ashy thigh but after 7 hours & him wiping it 1,000 times lol it’s a lil pale & swollen. Got this whole concept I’m doing based around things from my childhood that’s going to be dope once finished in LA this summer……. Glad I finally got to get tatted by one of my favorite tattoo artists in the world