The internet is convinced that the new Minions film includes a namecheck for Bonnie Blue – check out director Pierre Coffin’s explanation below.
Minions & Monsters, the latest instalment in Illumination’s Despicable Me franchise, is out in cinemas now. Set in 1920s Hollywood, it follows the titular yellow crusaders as they attempt to make their own monster movie, with Coffin returning to direct and voice the characters.
The viral moment in question, however, comes from a recent World Cup-style promotional clip for the film, in which the Minions are seen playing football against the monsters.
In the clip, one Minion appears to ask Stuart to summon Dua Lipa or Sabrina Carpenter, before some viewers became convinced that Stuart responds by saying the name of Bonnie Blue, the controversial British adult content creator.
Now, Coffin has clarified that the line was not intended as a reference to Blue.
In an interview with The Movie Dweeb on TikTok, Coffin confirmed that the names Dua Lipa and Sabrina Carpenter were used in the clip, but said the apparent Bonnie Blue line was a mishearing.
“Yes, and apparently I’m saying this other person’s name,” he said. “I’m bringing it up because I said, ‘Am I saying that?’ So I went back to them [the recordings] because I didn’t know that person.”
Coffin added that, after checking the original recordings, he realised he “didn’t say that at all”.
Instead, he explained that the sound came from the name of one of the film’s animators, Omid Rajabalipour, with the “balipour” part of his name being mistaken by some viewers for “Bonnie Blue”.
“People hear that other person’s name, which is very strange,” he added.
Coffin has long voiced the Minions himself, with the characters speaking in Minionese, which is made up of fragments of different languages, soundalike phrases and gibberish.
Another voice that pops up in Minions & Monsters is that of George Lucas, after Star Wars creator revealed he was a fan of the series.
Minions & Monsters also features a voice cast including Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, Zoey Deutch, Bobby Moynihan, Phil LaMarr and Trey Parker.
The film is the seventh instalment in the wider Despicable Me franchise, following 2022’s Minions: The Rise Of Gru and 2024’s Despicable Me 4.