Celebrity

A Lil Nas X & Teletubbies Collab Could Be On The Cards

"Me and tinky winky on the hook, dipsy & po on the verse and we'll let laa laa do the outro," the rapper tweeted.

by Sophie McEvoy
The Teletubbies on This Morning / Lil Nas X at the 2021 met gala wearing a gold suit of armour
Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock/Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images

Celebrating the release of his debut album Montero, American rapper Lil Nas X asked fans to get creative and “photoshop something (anything)” onto the album cover. The ask was simple, and he even promised to give out money to his favourites. Unsurprisingly, there’s been dozens of meme-worthy responses — but one unexpected reply outshone the rest.

The official Twitter account for Teletubbies replied with four beautiful renditions of the cover featuring Tinkie Winkie, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, and Po, asking whether they can get “a feature on the next album.” Lil Nas X was quick to respond, and it looks like a collab could be on the cards. “alright bet! me and tinky winky on the hook, dipsy & po on the verses and we’ll let laa laa do the outro,” he tweeted. “Perfect, we’ll see you in the studio,” the Teletubbies replied.

While Twitter is still reeling from this bizarre exchange, their potential collab has caused somewhat of an uproar among certain people.

Former Republican nominee for the U.S. senate Lauren Witzke took to Instagram to voice her opinion, saying that she “always knew that the Teletubbies were little gay demons.” Whether sarcastic or not, these feelings surrounding the children’s franchise aren’t new.

In 2019, former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka alleged that the Teletubbies somehow “started the whole trans thing”. This was in response to a caller saying that millennials had been “brainwashed” by schools and children’s programming to accept LGBTQ people. “I think that whole trans thing started with Teletubbies,” he said in response. “Remember? One of them wore a tutu.”

As far back as 1999, televangelist Jerry Falwell wrote about Tinkie Winkie in an article titled “Parents Alert: Tinky Winky Comes Out of the Closet” in his ministry’s magazine. “He is purple – the gay pride colour, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle – the gay pride symbol,” the article reads, before criticising the character’s accessory of choice – a red purse.

While it seems these criticisms of the children’s show are still somehow circling social media even today, it certainly hasn’t phased the actual Teletubbies whatsoever, thankfully.