As if the Chris Brown and Rihanna saga didn't already have enough dramatic twists and turns, a new chapter unfolded today. The "Turn Up the Music" singer has revealed a neck tattoo he recently received, which looks remarkably similar to a photo of his battered ex-girlfriend.

Despite the fact that the two shared a brief intimate moment at the 2012 MTV VMAs last week, the former couple are no longer dating, due to the fact that Brown severely harmed the Talk That Talk songstress in a violent fight on the evening of the 2009 Grammy Awards.

As a result of that incident, which left RiRi bloodied and bruised -- a photo circulating the Internet during that time showcased her as such -- Brown's critics believe his new ink is in bad taste. The tattoo features an image of woman who appears to have stitches in her lips, a black eye and a skeletal nose.

Reps for Brown, who scored the Best Male Video Award at the VMAs last week, deny that the tattoo depicts a battered woman. According to ABCNews.com, his permanent body art is a "sugar skull," also known as a Mexican Day of the Dead symbol. The crooner reportedly approached tattoo artist Peter Koskela to recreate the symbol from a picture he had.

See the tattoo in all its gory glory over at Billboard.com.



Watch Chris Brown's "Turn Up the Music" Video



See Photos of Chris Brown and Drake's Bottle-Throwing Incident
%VIRTUAL-MultiGallery-158265|147248|146263%

More From TheBoombox