If you’ve got a toddler, you know the orange suspenders. You know the blue and orange beanie. And you’ve definitely heard that high-pitched, energetic giggle echo through your living room more times than you’d care to count. Blippi is a titan of the preschool world. But back in 2019, the internet collectively gasped when a piece of Stevin John’s past resurfaced.
It wasn't a hidden educational pilot or a lost song about excavators.
It was the blippi harlem shake original video, and honestly, it was about as far from "educational" as you can get. If you’re here because you heard a rumor and thought, “Wait, did Blippi really do that?”—the answer is yes. But the context is a wild ride through the weirdest era of YouTube history.
The Steezy Grossman Era: Before the Bowtie
Long before he was a billionaire children's entertainer, Stevin John was a guy in his 20s trying to make it in the wild west of 2013 YouTube. At the time, the platform was obsessed with shock humor. Think Jackass meets early Filthy Frank.
John operated under the pseudonym Steezy Grossman.
He wasn't trying to teach kids about colors or fire trucks back then. He was doing "gross-out" comedy. This persona was built entirely around being "tasteless and stupid"—his own words, by the way. He even legally changed his name from Stephen J. Grossman to Stevin John later on, which some people think was a way to distance himself from this era, though he’s been pretty open about it since the story broke.
What actually happens in the video?
Let’s get the "yuck" factor out of the way. The blippi harlem shake original video was a 2013 take on the then-viral "Harlem Shake" meme. For those who don't remember, the meme usually involved one person dancing alone until the beat dropped, followed by a jump cut to a group of people doing something absolutely chaotic.
In John's version, he takes it to an extreme that most people find genuinely revolting.
He is seen on a toilet, and when the beat drops, he proceeds to... well, have explosive diarrhea on a friend who is lying naked on the floor. It’s graphic. It’s "Hard R" rated. It involves real fecal matter. It is basically the antithesis of everything Blippi stands for today.
The 2019 "Discovery" and the Fallout
The video didn’t just pop up on its own. In February 2019, BuzzFeed News reporter Katie Notopoulos published a report that blew the lid off the Steezy Grossman past.
Parents were, understandably, freaked out.
One day you're watching a guy teach your kid about the letter 'A,' and the next, you're reading about him doing "scat" comedy on a Russian video hosting site. It was a bizarre moment for internet culture. However, the reaction was surprisingly split.
- The "Cancel" Camp: Many parents felt the video was so "disgusting" and "degenerate" that John shouldn't be allowed near children's media.
- The "People Change" Camp: Others argued that he was a young man doing something dumb for the internet a year before Blippi even existed. They pointed out that his content for kids is actually quite good and totally separate from his past.
Honestly, the way John handled it was probably the only way he could. He didn't deny it. He didn't claim it was a "deepfake." He gave a statement to BuzzFeed saying, "At the time, I thought this sort of thing was funny, but really it was stupid and tasteless, and I regret having ever done it."
How the Video Disappeared (Mostly)
If you try to find the blippi harlem shake original video today on Google or YouTube, you’re going to have a hard time.
John and his legal team have been incredibly aggressive with DMCA takedown notices. They aren't just protecting the Blippi brand; they own the copyright to the Steezy Grossman videos, too. By asserting copyright, they can legally force platforms to delete the footage.
Vice’s Motherboard reported that John had been filing these takedowns for years, long before the BuzzFeed article ever went live. He was basically playing a decade-long game of Whac-A-Mole with his own cringe.
Is Blippi "Dangerous"?
This is where the conversation gets a bit more nuanced. Some critics, like Nathan Robinson of Current Affairs, have argued that even without the "poop video," Blippi is problematic because the content is "thin and dull" compared to something like Mr. Rogers.
But does a gross-out video from 2013 make the 2026 version of Blippi dangerous?
Most child development experts say no. The "Steezy" content was never intended for children, and there is zero evidence that those "sensibilities" have leaked into the Blippi universe. In fact, the brand is so corporate now—having been bought by Moonbug Entertainment (the same people who own CoComelon)—that every second of footage is scrubbed by teams of producers and educators.
The Business of Being Blippi
Stevin John isn't just a guy in a hat anymore. He's a brand. By the time the blippi harlem shake original video controversy hit its peak, Blippi was already a multi-million dollar empire.
- Acquisition: In 2020, Moonbug bought the brand.
- The "New" Blippi: Because the brand grew too big for one guy, they brought in Clayton Grimm to play the character in live shows and eventually on the YouTube channel.
- Net Worth: Some estimates place Stevin John’s net worth at over $75 million, with others suggesting the Moonbug deal pushed that much higher.
The controversy didn't kill the brand. If anything, it was a blip (pun intended) in an otherwise vertical trajectory. Kids didn't care. They just wanted to see the "Garbage Truck Song."
What Parents Should Actually Know
Look, if you’re worried about your kid accidentally seeing the "poop video" while looking for Blippi, the chances are basically zero. The filters on YouTube Kids are robust, and the legal team’s scorched-earth policy on that footage means it’s mostly buried in the dark corners of the web.
Here is the "real talk" takeaway:
Stevin John was a creator who grew up. He started in the "shock" era of the web, realized there was a massive gap in high-quality educational content for kids, and pivoted. He used his skills in SEO and video production—which he actually honed while doing those gross-out videos—to build something that genuinely helps toddlers learn about the world.
Moving Forward
If the past bothers you, there are plenty of alternatives. Ms. Rachel, Handyman Hal, and Danny Go! are all massive right now. But if your kid loves Blippi, you can breathe easy knowing that the guy behind the character isn't that same "Steezy" guy anymore.
Actionable Steps for Parents:
- Check the Channel: Ensure you are watching the "Official Blippi" or "Blippi - Educational Videos for Kids" channels to avoid weird knock-off "ElsaGate" style content.
- Use YouTube Kids: It's not perfect, but it's significantly safer than the main app.
- Talk about "Pretend": If your kid is old enough to notice there are two different Blippis (Stevin and Clayton), use it as a teaching moment about actors and characters.
- Audit Your Content: It's always a good idea to sit with your kid for 10 minutes and see what they're actually absorbing.
The blippi harlem shake original video is a bizarre relic of a different time. It’s a reminder that everyone has a digital trail—even the guy singing about excavators.