Well this is going exactly like everybody expected it would.
Over the past week, there’s been no bigger viral superstar than Lieutenant Dan. The Florida Man, whose real name is Joseph Malinowski, took over the internet when he refused to evacuate his sailboat in Tampa Bar during Hurricane Milton.
The one-legged viral sensation compared himself to Noah riding out the storm in his ark:
“I’m not going anywhere. The safest place to be in a flood is on a boat. Okay? We learned that with Noah. Everyone that stayed on land drowned. Noah and the animals lived. I’m fine.”
For everyone worried about “Lieutenant Dan” – I just talked to him. His real name is Joseph Malinowski.
He says he is going to stay on his sailboat in the Tampa Bay. pic.twitter.com/UJWE7EAazt— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) October 9, 2024
Well Malinowski made it through the storm unscathed, and he’s gotten plenty of offers from his 15 minutes of fame.
A GoFundMe set up for Lieutenant Dan has raised nearly $50,000, and streamer Adin Ross offered to buy the man a new $100,000 boat.
But his viral success hasn’t come without controversy after folks on the internet began digging into Malinowski’s past and discovering that he’s got quite the criminal record.
Of course most of his arrests have been for petty offenses and things like failure to appear, but he does have some charges for battery on his record that have caused people to caution making Lieutenant Dan too famous. We’ve all seen this story before, right? Somebody goes viral and gets famous, makes a bunch of money, and then everybody realizes they’re a shitty person? It’s been happening since Al Gore invented the internet.
Nevertheless, Lieutenant Dan managed to land a deal with streaming platform Kick. And then promptly dropped a racial slur during his first stream.
Clips of the man’s first time streaming on Kick quickly went viral after Lieutenant Dan dropped the n-word on his livestream:
“Once I cut you off you’re done, n***a. Sorry.”
Lieutenant Dan really went live on Kick and ripping the N-word 😭 pic.twitter.com/tr7OHPMHlw
— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) October 11, 2024
I mean, at least he apologized?
I feel like this is a good cautionary tale about being careful who we make famous. Yeah, his stunt during the hurricane was entertaining to follow, but it seems like he needs help and not just money. Even Malinowski’s daughter took to TikTok to blast those who are trying to profit off of turning her father into a celebrity:
@aamalinowski♬ original sound – Ashley Ann
Seems like Lieutenant Dan’s 15 minutes of fame might be over sooner rather than later.
