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Racist hackers just deleted the original ‘Damn, Daniel’ video

This is the lightning life cycle of a meme in 2016.

 

Miles Klee

Internet Culture

Posted on Feb 29, 2016   Updated on May 27, 2021, 3:57 am CDT

The hottest meme of the millennium is no more.

Well, sort of. If you’re one of the last dozen people on the planet who hasn’t heard of “Damn, Daniel,” you can still watch it on YouTube.

But the viral video, recorded on Snapchat by Daniel Lara’s friend Josh Holz, originally blew up when Holz posted it from his Twitter account. That fateful tweet is now gone forever, thanks to some joyless, racist hackers.

https://twitter.com/Ned_Donovan/status/704061426688720902

This is the lightning life cycle of a meme in 2016: Blow up, hear the remix, appear on Ellen, have a SWAT team sent to your house, get hacked by white supremacists, try to recover the precious meme that started it all.

Even if you did get the video back, would it matter? We can never regain our youth or innocence, Josh. Just let it go, dude. Damn. 

H/T Following | Screengrab via A Sneaker Life/YouTube  

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*First Published: Feb 29, 2016, 2:45 pm CST