The actor who starred as Barney the Dinosaur in the children’s TV series Barney and Friends is now working as a Los Angeles tantric sex therapist.
American actor David Joyner, 52, told Vice that his decade-long stint playing a dancing purple dinosaur was helpful for his current career.
“The energy I brought up [while] in the costume is based on the foundation of tantra, which is love,” Joyner said. “Everything stems, grows, and evolves from love.”
Joyner now only accepts female clients for his services and charges $350 for a four-hour session. On his website, Joyner, who is a former software analyst, offers clients the chance to reach “a higher and more blissful state of awareness [of their sexuality.”
According to Vice, Joyner believes this “blissful state” is best achieved through unprotected penetrative sex, and claims that condoms “block the energy”.
He reportedly asks clients to declare whether they have any sexually transmitted diseases, and sign a consent form, before their sessions. “Lisa”, an anonymous source contacted by Vice, said she had been one of his regular clients for three years, after first making contact with him through the dating app Tinder.
She added that she had sexual intercourse with Joyner during their third session, and described the experience as a “spiritual awakening”.
Joyner’s approach to therapy has been criticized by others in the field. Professor Kimberly Resnick Anderson, a sex therapist and psychiatrist working at the University of California, Los Angeles, described Joyner’s practices as “outrageous and far outside the standard of care.” She told Vice: “For him not to use condoms is medically unethical and irresponsible.”
Barney and Friends aired on the US network PBS from 1991-2009, and was broadcast to other countries around the world. Joyner performed inside Barney costume until 2002, while US voice actor Bob West dubbed the dinosaur’s dialogue.
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