Here's What Damn Daniel Has Been Doing Since Gaining Vine Fame

Anyone who logged onto the World Wide Web at least once in 2016 is somewhat familiar with "Damn Daniel." The popular Vine, which was shot by Riverside, Calif. teenager, Josh Holz, follows another teen named Daniel around a high school campus while avidly complimenting his white Vans sneakers, thus creating the iconic phrase, "damn Daniel! Back at it again with the white Vans!" 

What happened to Damn Daniel, aka Daniel Lara, and his highly supportive bestie, Josh Holz? We did a deep dive on the now-19-year-old teens, who seem to be doing quite well for themselves. And if you need a refresher on the iconic short-form vid, watch it again below.

"Damn Daniel" gained traction on Vine in a matter of days, and eventually, Daniel and Josh were invited to be on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, according to Famous Birthdays. There, they told the origin story of their video, and discussed what it was like to suddenly be internet famous — white Vans were being sold on eBay for exorbitant amounts and Daniel received countless marriage proposals via social media.

There, Ellen also gifted Josh with an exclusive surfboard, and Daniel received a lifetime's supply of Vans sneakers. Later, Daniel ended up donating shoes to Loma Linda University Children's Hospital in California, and eventually, he and Holz made a cameo in Weezer's "California Kids" music video. Seriously, after inadvertently creating a totally viral Vine, Daniel and Josh were totally living it up.

Below is the full Ellen interview — it's super heartwarming and will definitely bring you back.

To our pleasure, Daniel and Josh have apparently remained good friends, and sometimes, the two ex-Vine stars even work together on various projects. According to Wave3, as of December 2019, 20-year-old Josh was working in design and fashion in Los Angeles, Calif., and to be completely honest, this comes as no surprise, considering his appreciation for Daniel's white Vans sneakers all those years ago.

As for Daniel, In Touch Weekly noted that although the high school grad doesn't bother updating his social media pages frequently, he has shared a few photos from shoots he did in collaboration with Josh. It seems like he may have chosen to scale back from social media fame and ultimately step out of the spotlight, but we can assume that like Josh, the 19-year-old Cali native might also be interested in pursuing fashion — or potentially modeling — as well.

Josh Holz's "Damn Daniel" Vine brings back a glorious flood of memories, transporting all of us back to a time before the coronavirus and the 2016 election, so there's no doubt in our minds that you're reminiscing on the pure and wholesome creation with sincere nostalgia. If Daniel and Josh want to re-create the video four years later, we certainly wouldn't mind — most of us could definitely use a little quarantine pick-me-up.