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# Michelle Phillips gets Henna tattoo
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/lack-of-school-security-a-danger-to-children/
- Published: 2002-01-23T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-22T23:58:33.000Z
- Author: Andrew Fixmer
- Tags: local, Promenade, #archive-import

*Henna artist faces jail, fines*

Henna artists enlisted Hollywood personalities in their effort to convince city officials that it’s their right to express themselves.

Michelle Phillips of the classic 60s rock band the Mamas and the Papas, showed up on the Third Street Promenade Tuesday to receive a Henna tattoo, even though the practice is against the law in Santa Monica.

“It’s ridiculous to call this a crime,” she said while getting an “S” decorated on her right shoulder by Henna artist Luke Chanthadara. The artist has received two misdemeanor tickets since Jan. 1, when officials enacted a city-wide ban of Henna.

> “It’s ridiculous to call this a crime.” — — MICHELLE PHILLIPS Actress

“I’ve always considered Santa Monica a very progressive city... a live and let live place but it’s rather frightening that the city council decides what is art and what isn’t art,” Phillips said, adding the “S” tattoo is for Steven Zax, her fiancé and a Beverly Hills doctor.

The Santa Monica City Council voted in October to ban Henna artists throughout the city. Some coun-cilmembers think the non-permanent “tattooing” opens the city up to liability because some artists use unsafe, toxic dye. Others think Henna is not a performance and shouldn’t fall under the city’s code for street performing.

But some artists like Chanthadara ignore the ban because they believe it’s their Constitutional right to express themselves with the 5,000-year-old art form.

Since the ban went into effect, police have issued two misdemeanor tickets to Chanthadara for performing without a business license, which is no longer issued under the city’s new regulations.

The artist, who sets up shop on the Third Street Promenade, faces up to six months in jail and up to $1,000 in fines. He is scheduled to appear in court in Santa Monica at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 4.

Henna supporters plan to hold a vigil at 8 a.m. that day outside the Santa Monica Courthouse, located at 1725 Main Street just prior to Chanthadara’s arraignment.

Chanthadara said he will continue to perform the art on the Promenade and expects to receive more tickets. However, he didn’t expect to be ticketed on Tuesday with Phillips present because there was too much fanfare. Once the publicity is over, he expects the cops to focus on him again.

Phillips, 56, was disappointed officers weren’t on hand to witness the criminal act.

“I was hoping I would get arrested,” she said.

> “I was hoping I would get arrested.” — — MICHELLE PHILLIPS

Santa Monica Police Lt. Frank Fabrega said the department will continue to enforce city laws with the staff and resources available.

Henna supporters have collected hundreds of signatures, urging the city council to conduct a re-vote on the Henna ban and attempt to work out a meditative solution involving the inappropriate use of black Henna toxic hair dye. They are scheduled to go before the city’s arts commission on Jan. 28 to convince its members that Henna is safe, is an art and is a form of expression.

“I have all the confidence in Santa Monica that they should and will lift this ban,” said community activist Jerry Rubin, who worked with Phillips in fighting the city over the banning of realistic-looking toy guns in the late 1980s. He called Phillips last week to help in the artists’ effort.

“There’s absolutely no reason to ban it,” Phillips told a crowd of journalists Tuesday. “What is the point of banning something harmless, safe and fun?”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/012302-02_01.jpg)

Henna artist Luke Chanthadara gives actress Michelle Phillips a nonpermanent tattoo on the Third Street Promenade Tuesday. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/012302-02_02.jpg)

Valencia resident Alex Urbach gets a manicure and pedicure at Elegant Nails on Wilshire Boulevard before he spends the evening with his son. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 23, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/012302.pdf?ref=smdp.com)