In a Los Angeles Times interview, Christine Yano, curator of an upcoming exhibit on Hello Kitty at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, said Sanrio considers its billion-dollar icon to be a human girl. As she put it:
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Cue the collective—and understandable—”What?!?!?!” on social media.
Sanrio indeed confirmed the news and also pointed us to Hello Kitty’s official bio:
This story was updated to include Sanrio’s response.
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Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com