The Transformation Of Russell Horning Aka Backpack Kid

In the endless churn of internet ephemera, few figures burn brighter — or disappear faster — than the viral star. But once in a while, someone defies the formula. Enter Russell Horning, better known to the world as "Backpack Kid," the stone-faced teenager who flossed his way across the "Saturday Night Live" stage in 2017 and straight into meme history. With a single dance move, a shoulder-slung backpack, and a total lack of expression, he became the unexpected poster boy for Gen Z internet humor for quite some time. Not unlike TikToker turned pop music sensation Addison Rae or Hulu reality show stars Charlie and Dixie D'Amelio, Horning became very famous very fast for dancing on social media. That said, his path has been quite a bit different.

Behind the viral moment was a teenager with great timing, ambition, and a sharp sense of humor. In recent years, Horning has navigated the long tail of online fame with surprising agility, pivoting from comedy-dance content to music, advocacy, fitness, film scoring, and beyond. Take a look at what Backpack Kid has been up to since finding fame, and what his life looked like before he became a household name. 

Born December 19, 2001, Russell Horning was just an ordinary kid before "Backpack Kid" ever existed. "I am from Atlanta, born and raised," he told Flaunt in mid‑2017, framing his childhood in Lawrenceville, Georgia, as a normal backdrop to a life that would soon be anything but. While many child stars dive headfirst into performing art schools and casting calls when they're still in grade school, Horning followed his own path, learning how to dance on his own. "I took a class for about a month then left because there was too much drama. And that class wasn't very helpful anyways," he told Complex. He was a kid with a penchant for comedy and a knack for rhythm, surrounded by Georgia suburbs and churches.

Though one might think his sudden leap to the global stage would be too much to handle all at once, Horning's upbringing helped him stay grounded. Even after his follower count ballooned, he insisted on maintaining a connection to the everyday world he always knew. "It changed for me a lot," he told the outlet. "I try to maintain a normal life and not travel as much and not drift away from the people I knew before I was famous." 

Russell Horning recognized he had a knack for dancing while improvising routines with friends at church retreats and summer camps. In a mid‑2017 BuzzFeed talk, he recalled a pivotal summer in 2014, around age 12 or 13. "Me and my church we did this little retreat ... and at one of those dance parties, I did the floss and it got a lot of attention," he said. While he wasn't the very first person to ever do the dance, he soon would make it a global sensation. 

"Me just being like a kid I liked the attention," he continued. "I decided to put it on Instagram because it was like a fun dance move to do, like comedic and not meant to be good." He posted more videos of his oft-ridiculous dances, with no intention to go viral in mind. These amateur clips captured simple, genuine humor, not influencer polish, and that lifted him into new territory.

He corroborated this origin with Flaunt, saying his early creativity was driven by comedy. "My inspiration is: I was always just that weird kid in school who wanted to make people laugh," he shared. That unfiltered schoolyard humor helped the floss move from local joke to global dance without grand design — just honesty, and the freedom to be delightfully silly. And that silliness became his brand.

Russell Horning's floss debut on Instagram started out small. One second he had a handful of followers and views, and the next, everything left orbit. As he told Complex in early 2017, "I had 300 followers and the video had 30 views. Then I was sitting at my friend's house and got a notification on Instagram ... I looked and a guy with 700,000 followers had reposted the video and tagged me. I was getting thousands and thousands of followers."

That was the algorithmic shot heard around the internet. He explained that repost culture brought explosive growth. "One video gets posted on a page, and then other accounts will repost, and sometimes I'll get a hundred thousand followers in a few days," he told Flaunt. And it wasn't just lip-service as his follower count went from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands in mere days, as reposts fed reposts, and the floss moved from niche giggle to headline act. 

In the aforementioned Flaunt interview, Horning offered his take on why his dancing resonated with so many. "I'm unique and different — you can't find other dancers who are just doing it for comedy purposes and that's what I'm all about," he said. That comedy-first dance made his content stand out in a sea of influencers. This quirky move feigned simplicity when it was really a masterstroke of branding. Then, in December 2016, musician turned beauty mogul Rihanna reposted one of his floss videos to celebrate her Grammy nomination. The craze only continued from there, and years later, Prince William surprised royal watchers when he revealed even Princess Charlotte had mastered the floss. Needless to say, the floss' staying power is real.

By May 2017, 15-year-old Russell Horning was living out a teen's dream and then some. Invited by recent space adventurer Katy Perry to join her on "Saturday Night Live" for her season finale performance of "Swish Swish," the youngster stepped on stage with zero filters. "It's super nerve-racking," Horning confessed to Inside Edition. "Because if you mess up on live TV you cannot go back from that."

As for why Horning wore the backpack that launched a thousand memes? "I thought it looks cool so I wore it to see if anybody would react to it," he told Inside Edition, admitting he came prepared to test public reaction. He certainly got more than he bargained for as cameras zoomed in on his stone-faced flossing mid-performance, and suddenly the world couldn't stop watching. That deadpan energy became his trademark. As he reflected to Flaunt about his stiff face and backpack on "SNL," "That was the first day I wore the backpack ... someone dubbed me 'The Backpack Kid' ... I like making people laugh and the best way to do it is with a straight face. If you laugh and smile, it's not as funny." The chameleonic singer even tried and spectacularly failed the floss backstage. Horning shared a video of her attempt on Instagram, cheekily writing, "When your mom tries to look cool." 

He lingered on stage longer into "Swish Swish" than anyone expected, a moment both comedic and surreal. He summed it up perfectly on his Instagram (via Deadline), stating, "Imma really miss this place ... back to Atlanta I go." And he did, leaving behind a viral cultural moment that was built on comedic timing and a backpack.

In late 2018, Russell Horning's teen icon status met legal headwinds. At age 17, his mother filed a lawsuit against Epic Games, claiming Fortnite's "Floss" emote ripped off his signature dance without his consent. He joined a growing list of performers, including Alfonso Ribeiro and rapper 2 Milly, in challenging the game's profiting off of emote sales worth hundreds of millions per month — despite its free-to-play model.

Copyright law is tricky terrain. In the U.S., short dance moves or "social dances" don't qualify for copyright protection. To sue, claimants must both prove originality and have an official Copyright Office registration. The Supreme Court's Fourth Estate ruling made it clear that lawsuits cannot proceed until registration is approved. As a result, the suit came to a procedural halt when registration hadn't been completed, so the plaintiffs (including Horning and his mother) withdrew rather than risk full-on dismissal. Epic argued these moves were too simple to be copyrighted. Plaintiffs have since refiled, with the case in limbo.

Legal experts argue the outcome could influence future claims on dance moves and digital content altogether. A favored "social dance" defense could be overturned, opening doors for individual creators like Horning. For now, though, Fortnite keeps flossing, earnings remain untouched, and the battle remains unresolved. But Horning's legal move showed ambition beyond social media stardom in an effort to protect personal branding.

By September 2018, the Backpack Kid began bringing backpacks to kids. Inside Edition covered Russell Horning's surprise appearance at Brooklyn's Elsa Ebeling Elementary, where he handed out free backpacks that'd been donated by Kids in Need Foundation and Blue Sky to 400 students, even dancing with them on stage. Jimmy Freeman of Blue Sky told the outlet, "It has a tremendous impact on them. You can see the excitement on their faces when they get the backpack." Renay Dossman, the executive director of Kids in Need observed that having the right supplies and tools can have a massively positive impact on a student's performance in school. 

Horning personally signed many of the packs and closed the event by inviting students to floss alongside him. This charitable use of his time wasn't a one-off. Horning also supports Salvation Army drives and the Navy-Marine Corp Relief Society, a cause close to home because his brother is a Marine.

He has appeared at community events like Zumba fundraisers and local housing authority programs, tying his brand to physical presence and motivation. By blending dance, presence, and generosity, Horning rewrote the "internet star" narrative into something more textured and real. It makes it clear: he's not just a meme, but a young man channeling cultural currency into actionable community support.

While quite a bit of Russell Horning's personal life remains under wraps, if anyone wonders what he's been doing since his viral fame peaked, take a look at his TikTok and Instagram. In mid-2023, a TikTok showed him lifting dumbbells and shrugging off his spine condition."Can you tell I got Scoliosis?" he asked in the post. "It's gonna take a little more than a bit of scoliosis to stop me from cooking."

That ethos continued into bench-press videos on Instagram. "Keep pushing that last rep even if it's not going anywhere it's still working those muscles ... NO EXCUSES," he wrote in a post. But Horning didn't stop at recreational weightlifting. By February 2025, he'd added Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to his reinvention toolkit. As he shared on Instagram, "Starting Jiu Jitsu has changed my life in so many ways I feel more flexible, confident, in shape, and active in a whole new way! I'm a smaller guy but I always give it all I got." If there's one thing he's made clear, it's that growth is non-negotiable. Whether facing a barbell or a bigger opponent, he's communicating that evolution is his brand.

Russell Horning, like any viral star, is constantly trying to boost his career and make ends meet, but recently, he's stepped into selfless territory, showing a side of resilience and advocacy born from personal trials. In an emotionally honest Instagram reel posted in June 2024, he reflected on the public's perception of "Backpack Kid." "Oh, he's just a silly flossing kid, all he does is floss. What does he know about real-life s***." He continues, "'Backpack Kid' doesn't know about substance abuse, tragic death and loss, getting arrested, mental health, life problems. Maybe he doesn't. But Russell sure does."

That moment marked a turning point, a choice to own his own narrative and channel real struggle into purposeful outreach. He's made it a mission. On his TikTok, you can find clips of him speaking at schools about suicide prevention, and these appearances that draw both applause and criticism. In response to anyone who might question why he's become an advocate for mental health, he stated, "I'm never, ever going to stop my good message regardless on what anybody has to say. All I want is for more people to get something good out of what I say and do." By leveraging his platform to center mental health, he's aiming to provide transparency for a generation that sees authenticity as currency. 

The Backpack Kid has a serious passion for creating music, and his hard work has paid off. On October 3, 2024, Russell Horning announced he created the score for the feature-length film "The Hit List," directed by RobiiiWorld. Horning shared a video of the Atlanta premiere with his Instagram followers, writing, "Worked on the music for weeks and hearing it in theaters was incredibly inspiring since I've been locked in on piano and composing for the past few years and feel everything coming full circle thanks to God."

Though this was his first time making music for a movie, it certainly wasn't Horning's first time making music. In 2017, he teamed up with DJ Suede the Remix God on a song called "Flossin," and the following year he put out an EP called "Swagpack Kid." One of the songs, "Drip on Boat," was released as a single with a music video that parodied the 2004 indie comedy "Napoleon Dynamite." 

Nowadays, Russell Horning isn't trying to recapture the past. In a 2025 interview with Jordan Elliott on the podcast "INFLUENCED," he opened up about how music remains a central pillar of his future. "I definitely want that [music] to be like an aspect of my brand and an aspect of my future," he said,

He also dropped a beat tape on his birthday in December 2024, blending goofy samples with earnest production, reflecting the duality he's come to embody. But music is only part of the equation. His upcoming podcast, "Up1," aims to dig into his personal rise, missteps, and lessons, sharing his industry experiences with those who would benefit from hearing them, especially those who could relate to a kid who has lived through such a meteoric rise. He even brings on his childhood friends, offering glimpses of sincerity and goofiness in equal measure.

And now, acting. In early 2025, Horning announced he landed a gig in Miami, writing on Instagram, "Booked an acting role in a big project don't ever let the hate and online trolls get to you cause God has a plan for you and he needs your full attention ... no floss, no backpack kid, I sent an audition, casting loved it, now I'm molding myself a new path." In the posted video, he put it plainly, saying, "I'm not saying that to brag, I'm saying that to inspire. I want people to see my story, see my journey, and be like, 'I can do that too ... I can do that s***.' Because guess what? You can. Because I did." From meme to musician, advocate to actor, Russell Horning is still flossing, just not the way he used to.