Digital artist hits 30 million views on a provocative animation of Duolingo mascot, then the company’s legal team gets involved
Duolingo has welcomed fan art, but this artist says its lawyers asked for removals.
A digital artist says Duolingo’s legal team asked them to delete artwork featuring one of the language-learning app’s characters after a suggestive animation reportedly approached 30 million views.
The artist, known online as Movail, announced the removals on X on Nov. 3. The character involved is Lily, a purple-haired teenager who appears in Duolingo’s lessons. She is separate from Duo, the green owl most closely associated with the app.
Duolingo has previously welcomed fan art and credited Lily’s popularity online with inspiring merchandise. But Movail has not published the reported legal correspondence, leaving unanswered what the company objected to and why it requested removal.
Movail says Duolingo’s lawyers requested the removals
“By request of duolingo legal team, i unfortunately have to delete my posts related to duolingo,” Movail wrote. The artist apologized to followers, thanked them for their support and said they would take a break before returning to their work.
Originally reported on by Dexerto, an Oct. 31 animation featuring Lily in provocative poses had accumulated nearly 30 million views before being deleted. The post carried the caption, “Don’t give up on your lessons!”
Movail had been creating Lily-related animations for months, based on public Patreon listings. In a follow-up post, the artist said they still had an active Duolingo streak of more than four years and that Lily had helped motivate them to continue learning.
@Z0NE I guess for what is worth, at least people got to see my art, and only did it cuz I really like the character. Even today I have an active streak of over 4 years, and lily alone was a great motivator for it lmao
— Movail (@Movail2) November 4, 2026
The reported request has not been independently explained by Duolingo. Dexerto noted that Movail had not shared the notice or identified the lawyer involved. The announcement therefore should not be described as a confirmed lawsuit, copyright strike or trademark complaint.
Duolingo has encouraged fan art and sold Lily merchandise
Duolingo has explicitly invited fans to draw its characters. An official tutorial showing readers how to sketch Duo asks them to share their creations on social media using #DuoFanArt. That invitation concerns the owl, but it shows the company actively encouraging artwork made outside its own design team.
Lily’s following has also shaped the company’s merchandise. In its 2023 shareholder letter, Duolingo said fan content featuring its “purple-haired, emo teenager” had spread across Chinese social media. The company responded by producing Lily plushies and stickers.
Duolingo has credited fan content with helping it sell Lily merchandise. But its encouragement of fan art doesn’t tell artists which uses of its characters might draw a legal objection.
Duolingo describes Lily as a teenager, but it hasn’t said whether that factored into the reported removal request. Movail has not published the correspondence, so the company’s specific objection remains unclear.
Movail says they deleted their Duolingo-related posts at the legal team’s request, but hasn’t shared which posts the company identified or why it wanted them removed.
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