Barney The Dinosaur's Actor Is Apparently In The Tantric Sex Game Now

barney the dinosaur

Barney the dinosaur was a big name on the small screen for kids everywhere starting on PBS way back in the early 90s. The big purple dino was known for his fun, games, and that almost painfully catchy theme song. He was brought to life by David Joyner from 1991 to 2001. Nowadays, Joyner is best-known for something that definitely does not have a place on PBS. He currently runs a tantric sex business in California.

Yes, really. The man who used to wear the purple suit and dance around with kids now runs a tantric sex business. In each full session with David Joyner -- who is known as a tantra massage specialist and spiritual healer -- provides his exclusively female clients with ritual bath, chakra balancing, massage, and orgasms. The jump from playing Barney to running a tantric sex business might seem pretty improbable, but Joyner has said that the two are more connected than you probably think. Joyner had this to say about Barney and tantric sex:

The energy I brought up [while] in the costume is based on the foundation of tantra, which is love. Everything stems, grows, and evolves from love. Even when you have emotionally blocked energy, the best way to remove it is to remove it with love, and then replace it with God's divine love. Love heals and allows you to continue to grow.

Apparently, Barney's exuberance while teaching the kids about love on the show wasn't faked by David Joyner! He genuinely believed in using energy of love to promote growth and evolution when working as the purple dinosaur. Joyner was already a practitioner of tantric sex when he landed the Barney gig back in 1991. According to Joyner in a chat with Vice, lawyers for the show informed him that he was not permitted to talk, practice, or teach about tantra while he was under contract to play Barney. The attorneys stated that a lawsuit could happen if his penchant for tantra was open. Nevertheless, he continued to practice tantric sex in secret.

In case you were wondering, he didn't go pro in the tantric sex biz until after his tenure as Barney came to an end in 2001. David Joyner began his current practice in 2004 and has continued to build his clientele, which currently consists of 30 "goddesses" (a.k.a. clients), with two to four women coming to see him per week.

Although David Joyner says that his goal is to help his clients reach higher states of awareness and love through physical stimulation, some people take issue with his practice of unprotected sex. One California defense attorney even believes that Joyner could be charged with prostitution due to his practice of charging women and sometimes engaging in sexual intercourse with them. It's worth noting that Joyner does not have sex with all his clients in all sessions. All things considered, David Joyner's tantric sex business is probably not one that many of us would have predicted of the man who brought Barney the dinosaur to life.

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Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).