Duolingo has reportedly asked digital artist and animator Movail to remove a series of posts featuring Lily, the language-learning app’s goth teen mascot.
Movail wrote on X on November 3 that they had deleted their Duolingo-related posts “by request of duolingo legal team.” They apologized to followers, thanked them for their support and said they would take a break before returning to their work.
In a follow-up post, Movail said they still had an active Duolingo streak of more than four years and that Lily had been a major motivator. Public Patreon listings show that the artist had been working on Lily-related animations for months.
Duolingo has described Lily as a “purple-haired, emo teenager.” The company previously said fan content devoted to Lily had spread across Chinese social media, helping inspire Lily plushies and stickers.
Duolingo’s legal takedown of Movail’s Lily artwork
One of Movail’s October 31 posts used the caption “Don’t give up on your lessons!” and racked up nearly 30 million views before being deleted. The deleted artwork reportedly included Lily in provocative animated poses.
The removal triggered a wave of reposts and backlash. Some users warned that Duolingo was creating a Streisand effect by drawing more attention to the deleted art, while others flooded the company’s replies with jokes and reposts.
Duolingo has not publicly explained what legal claim it raised. Movail did not publish the notice or identify the lawyer involved, so there is no public evidence that this was a lawsuit, formal copyright strike or trademark complaint.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
