Singer Kelis Is Selling Race-Swapped Collectibles, Will Her Remakes Bring All the Boys to the Yard?

Kelis, known for her 2003 hit song, 'Milkshake,' is making and selling collectibles featuring African-American versions of popular cartoon and video game characters. If you’re of a certain age, you’ll remember the bootleg Bart Simpson t-shirts in the early 90s that transformed the yellow-tinged cartoon character into a mischievous African-American imp. So what Kelis is doing with her 'Make It Brown' collectibles line is not unprecedented.

However, not everyone is pleased with her transforming popular white cartoon characters into brown ones for some green cash. (WATCH)

Singer Kelis shows off her black ‘Toy Story’ Woody doll.

“We took a lot of time to make sure all the details were right.”

Toy company ‘Make it Brown’ says it turns toys black so the black community can feel “represented & included.” pic.twitter.com/q8IFCAh5Fi
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) May 25, 2026

Alrighty then.

As we mentioned, some commenters are upset and say that changing the race of established characters is racism.

The whole idea that people can only care and feel represented by people that are the same race as them is wrong and destructive.
— John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) May 25, 2026

Correct. It’s racism disguised as empathy.
— Adam Francisco (@adamfrancisco_) May 25, 2026

Isn’t it really just Toys doing black face?

Why do some blacks feel that to feel included, they have to co-opt white characters?

This is as ridiculous as having someone make a white or Asian Tianna.
— Oops I Typoed Again 🇺🇸🗽 (@oops4236) May 25, 2026

Even if you don’t agree that it’s racist, it still comes across as lazy.

The Woody doll, in particular, irks many commenters because there’s already a fictional black sheriff who deserves his own action figure, aka collectible.

I'm seeing Cleavon Little pic.twitter.com/oNpbJYUonr
— Rani, Last of The Red Hot Boomers (@ShadesOfRani) May 25, 2026

Woah, that's crazy they had black main characters in movies in 1974? How could that be, I thought America was extremely racist?
— Nuance (@CygnusSlaughter) May 25, 2026