What Is The TikTok 'Phone Ceiling Challenge'? The Trend That May Have Gotten A Student Expelled Explained

TikTok trends and challenges are typically easily re-creatable video formats set to the same song or sound on the app, the Benjamin's Deli trend and the Jubi Slide trend being recent examples of many TikTokers hopping onto the same video style.

The TikTok Ceiling Challenge is another such trend that has seen many participants mimicking each other, this time by taping their phone to the ceiling and dancing to J.I.D's "Surround Sound" from a birds-eye perspective. Here's where the challenge originated, and how it may have gotten one unlucky student expelled from their school.

Where Does 'Ceiling Challenge' Come From?

The earliest known video of a TikToker dancing to J.I.D's track "Surround Sound" as seen from a top-down bird's eye view was posted by user @michaelfirshort on October 6th, 2023. The video shows one friend out of a group of people reaching up to tape their phone to the ceiling, followed by a brief segment showing a friend group dancing from the same angle. The post gathered over 1.4 million views in a month.

How Did The 'Ceiling Challenge' Spread?

Various other TikTokers posted videos participating in the trend in October and November of 2023, with TikToker @arcsteelandconcrete posting a clip showing several construction workers dancing while looking up at the phone in late October 2023. The post gathered over 12 million plays in a week. A few days later, TikTok account @retirementhouse posted a similar video, gathering over 9 million views in a week.

Did Someone Get Expelled For Doing The 'Ceiling Challenge'?

In early November 2023, TikToker @screech.vibes posted a clip participating in the challenge and gathering over 480,000 views in a day, but the video was subsequently removed from TikTok. The next day, media outlet 'The Genius Media' reported that the student was purportedly expelled for doing the trend, a claim backed up by X user @juststeph001 who added that the student hailed from Madonna University in Nigeria. These reports are as of yet unconfirmed.

For the full history of the Ceiling Challenge, be sure to check out GotFunnyPictures's encyclopedia entry for more information.