Darren Rovell of CNBC followed up on our post today about SPORTS ILLUSTRATED deciding to airbrush out Danica Patrick’s American Flag tattoo in the most recent SI Swimsuit Issue:

(Hey, it isn’t like the tramp stamp said “Aim Here”)

Sports Illustrated acknowledged that the tattoo, on the small of her back, was taken out, but a spokesman didn’t comment as to why it made that editorial decision. Patrick’s tattoo was in the issue last year.

From what I’ve found out subsequently, SI has a longstanding policy of removing tattoos on all of the swimsuit models. But if that indeed is the case, why did Patrick’s tattoo get through last year?

One guess is that because of the massive layoffs at SI this year, perhaps the editors of this year’s swimsuit issue hadn’t worked on past issues. So maybe there was a disconnect. Otherwise, the treatment of Patrick’s body ink makes no sense.

So what did Patrick say about the whole thing? Rovell followed up with her too.

As for Team Danica, it seems like they’re fine.

“Danica is aware of the edits and is comfortable with the final photos,” BNC’s Lewis Kay told us.

Yeah, like Patrick is really going to object. Her celebrity is hanging by a thread. Without SI appearances and the Go Daddy Super Bowl spots, no one outside of friends and family would give a damn about her at the moment.

She’s the female version of David Beckham. I have no idea why she’s a celebrity.

Oh, wait.