What a wild turn of events!!
This week we’ve been covering viral sensation Lieutenant Dan, real name Joseph Malinowski, after he captivated the internet’s attention for staying in his docked boat during Hurricane Milton. Despite countless attempts from officials and influencers, the Tampa boat owner just could not be convinced to evacuate. As the extreme storm made its way toward Florida, many social media users were sure he’d be a goner if he stayed at the dock, boat or not. He was confident he’d make it, though, telling followers:
“God put on my heart to come here. I came here. I’m not going run with a little weather. God didn’t send me here to die.”
Well, luckily for him, the hurricane decreased from Category 5 to Category 3 by landfall, and he DID survive! The boat sustained cosmetic damage, but he was all well and good. Seriously, he got super lucky. We could never recommend anyone else trying this themselves. When officials tell you to evacuate, it’s in your best interest to do so. Not everyone has the same luck…
Related: Taylor Swift Donates Millions To Hurricane Victims — And Gets Criticized For It
As for Lt. Dan’s own fortune, newfound fame is still fame, and it didn’t take long before his past was looked into. While it has been reported that Lt. Dan does have a past in the legal department, darker rumors started going around. Claims of more serious crimes relating to sexual assault started circulating, but according to reports, these allegations were NOT true. Apparently someone confused his public record with another Malinowski. Oof.
As if that wasn’t messy enough, now there’s an even newer twist! Those who’ve been following closely on TikTok know Tampa Terrence, the Florida influencer who made Lt. Dan famous in the first place. Terrence likes to go around Tampa and record the goings on of his world, and just before hurricane season, he happened to meet Malinowski. Rightly thinking the world would be interested in his new friend too, the influencer uploaded an introduction video for Lt. Dan onto his TikTok. Watch (below):
@terrenceconcannon Dont give up the ship #tampastrong
Followers quickly became enthralled with the “real life pirate” story, so Terrence continued adding updates, eventually going so far as to create a GoFundMe account for Lt. Dan, titled “Support Lieutenant Dan’s Seafaring Dreams“. As of this writing, the donations have grown to over $46,000!! People were fascinated and tuning in for every update, watching Terrence and others try their best to help him evacuate, then watching Terrence help him with his boat for Hurricane Milton and more (watch below):
@terrenceconcannon The only money Lieutenant Dan is accepting is through the go for me. Do not get scammed. With fake cashapps. Theres a lot misinformation going on about him. Going to make a video shortly to explain everything
When news of Lt. Dan’s survival broke, internet users everywhere rejoiced, and soon the viral star was being visited by all sorts of fans… including other influencers. All seemed to be going so well, but in a shocking plot twist no one saw coming, followers opened their TikTok FYP (For You Page) on Thursday night to see videos of Dan and Terrence confronting each other!
Wait, what?! Why? What happened? What did people miss??
Well, it appears at some point between Dan’s survival and Thursday night, Dan started thinking maybe Terrence didn’t have his best interests at heart after all — a claim Terrence FIERCELY denies. In a now-deleted TikTok video, Lt. Dan lamented he felt like Terrence wasn’t going to be able to give him the GoFundMe after all, and he also claimed he no longer had access to his own TikTok profile. Word quickly got back to Terrence, who would upload his own (now-deleted) response video shortly after, adamantly denying all the allegations. An hour or so later, Dan and Terrence were both at the dock, and confrontation ensued (watch below):
@toneildemone ????Tampa Terrence Meets up with Lieutenant Dan to discuss issues over TikTok and go fund me???????? #lieutenantdan #tampa #Florida #hurricanemilton #repost
As you can see in the video, both sides air their grievances. Lt. Dan feels like he was possibly being taken advantage of, but Tampa Terrence explains he believes it was a misunderstanding. Terrence insists Dan could always log back into his own TikTok account, and he also asserts the only reason there’s a hold up with the GFM money is because they’re waiting on Dan to get a proper identification card so the GFM admins can verify the payout. Terrence clearly felt hurt by Lt. Dan making such public claims about him since, in Terrence’s eyes, he has always been trying to help Lt. Dan. In a new video on Friday, Terrence tells his followers he and his family have been getting death threats all over the sad misunderstanding. Watch (below):
@terrenceconcannon Clearing things up with the Lieutenant Dan Go Fund me.
Wow. No good deed goes unpunished, right?? Lots of fans were on Terrence’s side, saying they believed his intentions were pure. Other TikTok users could relate to Lt. Dan’s skepticism, though. So, to further prove his heart was always in a good place, Terrence went back to Lt. Dan’s boat on Friday with cold hard cash! You can see how that played out below:
@toneildemone @Tampa Terrence stands on his word???????? and drops off @JoeSea aka lieutenant dan money ???? #lieutenantdan #tampa #florida #update #hurricanemilton #adinross #kickclips #kick #fyp #trending
Terrence dropped off SEVEN GRAND to Lt. Dan, the first installment of the GFM funds. Terrence goes on to say as soon as Malinowski is able to secure verified identification with GFM, then the rest of the donations will be transferred into his bank account. As the boat owner receives the cash, his new friend and fellow TikTok notable Checkthestar applauds Terrence for doing right by Lt. Dan.
Whew! That’s a lot of updates in less than 24 hours!!
So… does this mean all is good now? At the moment, it would seem like it, and hopefully it stays that way!!
Thoughts on how this all played out? Let us know in the comments (below)!
[Image via Tampa Terrence/TikTok.]
Related Posts
CLICK HERE TO COMMENT-
Categories