Lara pictured on his Facebook page.
Nobody wears white Vans quite like Daniel Lara. He’s the star of the Internet meme that has the world saying, “Damn, Daniel,” whenever someone walks by. As the viral clip was at its apex, TMZ reports that Daniel Lara’s home was the victim of a swatting prank. According to TMZ, someone called police in Riverside, California, to say that “a boy had shot his mom in the head with an AK-47.” Thankfully Daniel, and his white Vans, are fine.
The video craze was started by Lara’s friend Josh Holz who posted a video to Twitter on February 15 showing all the times he greeted Lara by saying, “Damn, Daniel,” while paying close attention to his friend’s trendy white Vans. The videos were first made on Snapchat and then cobbled together. It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly is so funny about the video, Josh Holz’s repetition or Lara’s goofy smiles.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. The Video Led to the Duo Appearing on ‘Ellen’
At the time of writing, the video has nearly 300,000 retweets and over 350,000, favorites on Twitter. As the video continued to gather buzz, Lara tweeted, “Josh, and I are stoked by all this. Thank you guys.”
On February 24, the duo appeared on Ellen. Holz told Ellen, “It was just out of nowhere.” While Daniel said, “I was like what’s this guy doing? [When] he was walking up to me.” He added that he knew the pair were a hit when people were asking to take Lara’s photo at the mall. Thanks to the talk show host, the pair were given a lifetime supply of Vans. Lara also said that he’s been inundated with marriage proposals since the video became a hit. “I’m not in a rush to get married anytime soon. I’m 14 years old. But, you know, the girls are just a huge bonus out of all of this.” Not only that, but Ellen even ventured to star in the latest “Damn, Daniel” video. In it, Holz says, “Damn, Daniel! Damn, Ellen! Back at it again with the white vans!”
2. Daniel Lara Loves High School & Is on the Swim Team
Josh Holz pictured with model Alexis Ren on Instagram.
Lara and Joshua Holz are students at Riverside Polytechnic High School in Riverside, California. In September 2015, Lara tweeted, “I love school.” He competes on the school’s swim team. Riverside Poly is the alma mater of hoops legend Cheryl Miller and her brother, fellow basketball player, Reggie.
3. Josh Holz Loves to Make People Laugh
(Facebook)
Despite Lara being the breakout star of the video, it’s his friend Joshua Holz who coined the phrase, “Damn, Daniel.” In the midst of the video’s success, Holz tweeted, “love making people laugh.” Like the rest of us, Lara is a fan of Kendall Jenner, posting photos of her watching Zlatan and the rest of the PSG boys in soccer action in Paris in October 2015.
4. Lara Has Already Been the Victim of a Cruel Internet Hoax as Well as a ‘Swatting’ Incident
(Ebay)
He’s already been the victim of an Internet hoax that said he had been beaten up for his white Vans. The article appeared on the satire website, Huzlers. According to the article, the fictional thieves took Lara’s famed white Vans and were selling them on Ebay for $3,000.
That Internet rumor also led to the prevalence of a hashtag “#DamnPrayForDaniel.” One tweeter in mourning wrote, “It’s sad that some people are so stupid enough to beat someone up just for there shoes.” The story was confirmed as being hoax by one of Lara’s friends.
On February 23, TMZ reported that police were called to Lara’s home after reports of a shooting involving his mother. The incident was later confirmed to be an issue of “swatting.”
5. Even Aspiring Rappers Are Getting in on the ‘Damn, Daniel’ Phenomenon
The “Damn, Daniel” phenomenon has taken on such a life that it’s been adopted by rappers Little, Teej and LeBlanc who collaborated on a remix song. The mix was referred to as “actually not too bad” by entertainment blog Pigeons and Planes. The other weirdest utilization of the meme is surely Twitter user @cheeyenne who filled answered every math question in a test with the phrase, “Damn, Daniel.”