Chris Brown's publicist has fired back at reports the star has had the image of a beaten woman's face tattooed on his neck.

The "Kiss Kiss" singer, who was found guilty of assaulting ex-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, was recently photographed with the new ink - and critics took him to task for what appeared to be a very poor judgment call.

Some even suggested the tattoo resembled the photograph of a beaten Rihanna that was leaked to the media after the couple's Grammy Awards eve fight in Los Angeles.

But Brown's representative insists the media members taking aim at Brown need to take a closer look at the neck tattoo, insisting it's nothing like Rihanna's face, or a battered woman for that matter.

A spokeswoman for the singer says, "His tattoo is a sugar skull (associated with the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead) and a MAC cosmetics design he saw. It is not Rihanna or an abused woman as erroneously reported."

The rep noted that the tattoo is peeling right now, but it will be clear what the star intended when the new skin art has healed.

Brown reportedly paid the MAC cosmetics artist who created the piece to allow him to duplicate it on his neck.