Who Is the Minions Figure Skater?

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Photo: NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Olympics opening ceremony isn’t until Friday, and somehow there’s already drama — specifically in the world of male figure skaters who like to get a little goofy with their routines. All season long, Spanish figure skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté has been dressing up as a Minion and performing his short program to a Minions-inspired track. Up until Sunday, his plan was to bring the Minions to Milan and perform as one of the Despicable Me characters at the upcoming Winter Olympics. In an upsetting turn of events, Sabaté announced on Sunday that he has run into “copyright-clearance issues” and can no longer skate to his Minions music.

I assume you would like to see what Sabaté’s Minions routine looks like before we go any further, so here it is:

Sabaté has a pretty narrow shot for Olympic gold going up against the likes of Ilia Malinin and Andrew Torgashev, so the least they could do was let him have some fun with his routine. But apparently having a sense of IP-inspired whimsy was against the rules.

In a statement posted to his Instagram Story, Sabaté wrote that while he “followed all required procedures” and submitted his music back in August, he was informed only last Friday that he wouldn’t be able to perform to his Minions music. Sabaté described the news as “incredibly disappointing” but is remaining optimistic. “I will face this challenge head-on and do everything I can to make the best of the situation,” he wrote.

Over on r/FigureSkating, fans mourned the loss of Sabaté’s Minions program. “If there was ever a time when the world needed a Minions program it was now. I’m so sad for all these skaters,” one user wrote. “What Etsy witches do we need to hire to fix this?” asked another.

It seems that the redditors may have found the right Etsy witch. On Tuesday, Sabaté shared that he might be able to get his Minion on after all. The skater wrote that due to an outpouring of support from fans, “Universal Studios reconsidered and officially granted the rights for this one special occasion.” It appears that there are still some logistics that need to be worked out — Sabaté alluded to “a couple things to be tied up,” but he added that “we are so close to accomplishing it!”

Worst case scenario, Sabaté also has a Saturday Night Fever routine he can probably whip out for the games. And yes, he wears the appropriate outfit for that one, too.

The Cut has reached out to Universal and will update this post if it responds.

This post has been updated.