The Momo Challenge YouTube video rumors spread like wildfire this past week, first with schools in England warning about the videos. Finally, even schools in the United States were sending out warnings to students and parents about the Momo Challenge videos. As it turns out, there was never any evidence that Momo was actually appearing in official Peppa Pig, Fortnite, Minecraft or other YouTube videos or somehow infiltrating YouTube Kids. The original video didn’t even show Momo appearing in a children’s video, and later videos spliced Momo into unofficial Peppa Pig videos that appeared to be ripped from official ones. Now, YouTube and other social media sites are starting to take down Momo videos, making it tougher for people to see the original videos that started the rumors. Heavy saved copies of the videos and will be including them below, so that you can see what started the rumors.
The First Video Just Showed Momo Talking About Killing People, But Never Showed the Video in an Official Children’s YouTube Show
The first video that circulated showed Momo talking about killing people in a sing-song voice, but it never showed the video actually appearing in a children’s YouTube show. It’s unclear just where the video originated from. XSarah Gibson shared it on Facebook saying that her son, John, was happily watching YouTube Kids when he saw the video, but she didn’t say if the video was one she recorded or if it was just one she found that looked like what she saw. She later took down her post. Here’s a screenshot of her post:
The video, wherever it originated from, quickly went viral. This was likely after the rumors started in England, however. The video has been shared by multiple people, including the person below. As of the time of publication, this link hasn’t been taken down but it has been marked as “inappropriate” by YouTube.
The video appeared in at least one alternative form. MKim Kim shared this video on Facebook and wrote: “This sh** is SERIOUS please make sure you guys are watching what your babies watch on YOUTUBE Momo is CRAZY & it’s teaching your children do dangerous stuff to self harm or hurt family members, this makes me sick to my stomach (sad part is you CANT BLOCK IT !! Bc it pops up randomly in the kids show, fortnite, peppa pig, play-duh) it’s usually in the middle of the videos to avoid parents.” She didn’t claim to have posted the video originally, however. Heavy saved a copy of the video in case it’s taken down. Here it is below. It appears to be from a slightly different angle than the first video in this section. Once again, the origin of this video also isn’t known.
The videos and the stories from England about parents seeing the videos quickly spread. Haslingden Primary School executives in Rossendale, in the northwest of England, issued a warning to parents that the terrifying figure was telling children to take tablets or turn the gas on in the house. But once again, there was no evidence the video was somehow hacked into official, legitimate children’s videos. The best guess is that the original videos weren’t in children’s videos at all, and later ones were spliced into ripped videos to take advantage of the hype.
A Second Video Later Appeared Showing Momo in a Peppa Pig Video, But the Video Was Ripped from Peppa Pig & Momo Was Spliced In
The only “legitimate” (to use the word loosely) video that showed Momo in a Peppa Pig video is included above. This one was never an official Peppa Pig video or on YouTube Kids, as you can tell from the way the video viewer looks. Instead, it appears that someone, seeking to take advantage of the Momo hype, ripped a Peppa Pig video, spliced Momo into it, and then uploaded that video to YouTube in hopes that some people searching for Peppa Pig might see it.
It should be noted that this isn’t even the same video that was originally circulating. This video was shared by Dustin Gale, along with many other people. So far Dustin Gale’s video is still viewable on Facebook. You can watch it here. He wrote: “I’ve seen a lot of people question the whole momo thing on YouTube kid videos. Just incase you don’t believe this momo challenge in children videos, I just found this… I’m not sure what type of disgusted person thinks this is funny. #StayAlertParents Update: As parents, we must be aware of what our kids are watching. The Momo thing isn’t the issue to worry about. If you plan on allowing your kids to watch videos, please use safer alternatives. Apps like Nick JR, PBS, Disney, Netflix’s, etc. If you want to continue to use Youtube Kids, use the approved content feature. Your kids will only see content that you approved.”
Despite what he wrote, it should be clarified that Momo never appeared in an official Peppa Pig video or YouTube Kids video. There’s no evidence of that happening.
The video was then shared by multiple people, sometimes from different angles as they found it online. YouTube has officially said there was no video evidence for the Momo rumors.
We want to clear something up regarding the Momo Challenge: We’ve seen no recent evidence of videos promoting the Momo Challenge on YouTube. Videos encouraging harmful and dangerous challenges are against our policies.
Some Weird Kinder Egg Videos Also Show Momo
And then there’s the weird Kinder Egg videos popping up on YouTube (and sometimes being taken down later.) They are shared by accounts with innocuous names like “Video for Kids” or “Egg Family.” But they show Momo appearing in Kinder Egg surprises (but they don’t show Momo’s threatening message.) The video below was shared on YouTube and got a lot of attention, but the account later took it down. Heavy saved a copy of the video, which you can watch below. This video was so open about the whole thing that they even labeled the video “Momo Kinder Joy Surprise Egg vs. Chupa Chupa Trolls Surprise Ball Toy.”
Other accounts are sharing similar “Momo surprise” videos that are creepy and weird, like Egg Family’s. That video hasn’t been taken down yet, but it likely will be.
A Video That Appeared To Be Someone Texting Momo Was Actually a Game Called Momo.Exe
A video is circulating that shows someone texting Momo. Becky Jackson shared it on Facebook, clarifying that the video wasn’t hers. It looks like someone was texting Momo, but the video was taken out of context. Even Heavy originally thought it was the texting video, but an alert reader let us know it was actually from the Momo.Exe game, a horror game designed for adults. Here’s the video. The creator of the video isn’t known.
This video actually does not show the Momo Challenge at work. Instead, it’s from a game based on the Momo Challenge called Momo.Exe. Here’s a screenshot from the game, showing someone communicating with Momo. You’re given a set of preselected answers when responding to Momo in the game.
Momo.ExeMomo.Exe
The game’s description reads: “Horror game where you need to do different tasks from horror creature received by your phone. And remember: Don’t chat with MOMO!” It’s a game intended for adults, not children. This isn’t the source of the Momo rumors. Rather, it’s a game that took part in some of the Momo hype when it first gained mainstream attention in 2018.
Reviews for the game are “Very Positive.” Another description reads: “Momo is a nickname given to a sculpture of a young woman with long black hair, large bulging eyes, a wide smile and bird legs. Pictures of the sculpture are associated with an urban legend involving a WhatsApp phone number that messages disturbing photographs to those that attempt to contact it, linked to a game referred to as the Momo Challenge or Momo Game.”
The game is created by Dymchick1 and they even have a Momo bundle you can buy too. it’s an interactive horror story for Windows, Mac OSX and Steam OS + Linux.
The Origin of the Recent Rumor Is Likely Ireland
The real originator of the Momo Challenge rumor that’s recently taken over the Internet isn’t known, but it’s likely from Ireland and was actually about ads that were appearing while a child was watching a video, and was never originally about Momo randomly appearing in a children’s video at all.
It seems one of the very first reports came from a mother in Belfast, England who claimed her seven-year-old daughter was targeted on YouTube. This claim said that Momo was actually seen while her daughter was playing Fashion Famous in the Roblox app and Momo was embedded in an ad for a Country and Western game. The mom did not want to be named in that story. Belfast Live went on to share that hundreds of parents in Northern Ireland had already reported seeing Momo on YouTube channels, so this mom’s story might not have been the very first one either.
Those are all the Momo Videos that are circulating, saved since many of the videos are being taken down. As you can see, none of these provided any proof that the Momo Challenge was appearing in legitimate YouTube Kids videos. It appears that part of the rumor was a hoax, and the Momo videos only later appeared when they were spliced into videos that were ripped from official channels.