90 Day: The Single Life’s Debbie Johnson fell hard for her new Canadian boyfriend Tony, and initially, fans were happy and eager to know if they have a future together. That’s changed recently, however, as some are talking more and more about his controversial back tattoo, which has ties to a Croatian fascist group. 90 Day Fiancé's Debbie allegedly stepped up to defend her man and the tattoo recently on social media, but the viewers aren’t having it.
Fans first took notice of Tony’s enormous back tattoo back during the Season 3 premiere of 90 Day: The Single Life, and it immediately set off alarm bells with international viewers from or familiar with Croatia. The image may look like the same one found on the Croatian flag, but the pattern distinctly resembles the sigil used by a Croatian fascist group known as the Ustaše. During World War II, the group was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Serbians, Jews, and Romani people. Check out the photo of the tattoo featured in the episode below via Reddit:
looked_up_debbies_boy_toy_tattoos_and_evo_zore from r/90dayfianceuncensored
A simple Google search confirmed that “Evo zore, evo dana” is indeed the title of a marching song that was adopted by the Ustaše. That, paired with the similar markings on the emblem, makes it feel more probable this design is intentionally linked to the Nazi-affiliated faction.
Despite that, Debbie allegedly defended Tony over on Instagram after seeing fans calling on TLC to remove him from the show and labeling him as a racist. Debbie reportedly claimed that the tattoo had nothing to do with fascism or anything of that nature in a since-deleted response to fans upset with it (via Reddit):
People like to start shit. He is not a radical or anything like that. He loves the country, it’s beautiful, and Nazis were removed from that country decades ago.
Debbie allegedly posted several more defenses similar to the above in replies to other fans upset by the tattoo, but those comments were also later deleted. It’s unclear why Debbie might've removed her comments regarding Tony’s tattoo, though 90 Day Fiancé fans will likely have their theories about that.
It’ll be interesting to see how 90 Day Fiancé handles this controversy if fans want him removed from the show, especially considering its actions earlier this year against Alina Kozhevnikova. When fans uncovered a slew of racist social media posts Alina made, the franchise immediately cut ties with her and reportedly made changes to its casting process to prevent further incidents like this from happening. It’s possible the same may be done with Tony before 90 Day: The Single Life is over, but with so much of the season already completed, who knows if that will be done at this point?
It’s possible the franchise might just ignore what’s said regarding Tony’s tattoo, which would fall in line with a complaint made by former 90 Day Fiancé cast member Deavan Clegg. She alleged that the franchise consistently overlooks the controversies of some stars depending on their importance to the brand. While that’s not proven, participants like Big Ed Brown remain active in shows despite troubling accusations against them. Debbie has had a place in the 90 Day Fiancé family for a long time, but who knows if that could impact how the network responds to Tony and his controversial tattoo?
90 Day: The Single Life airs on TLC on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET. As we reach the back half of the season, now is as good of a time as any to look into what’s coming to television on the 2022 TV schedule, and maybe find a new series to get into once this season is over.
