The daughter of Lieutenant Dan has slammed his new fans who have heaped attention on her father, saying that his viral fame will lead him to an early grave.
Joseph Malinowski, better known as Lieutenant Dan, is a one-legged Florida sailor who went viral for refusing to leave his sailboat in the face of Hurricane Milton.
Malinowski had his first taste of fame when University of Tampa student Terrence Concannon began recording viral TikTok videos of him as the storm approached.
Concannon organized an online fundraiser for the one-legged sailor, which received more than $46,000 in donations.
Joseph Malinowski was seen on Thursday after surviving the storm on his boat
Joseph Malinowski, better known online as Lieutenant Dan, provided an update about his situation as he hunkered down inside his boat during Hurricane Milton
Ashley Ann tearfully said that her father could ‘end up dead’ due to all the attention and money his fans are sending him
Streamer Adin Ross also announced that he would purchase Malinowski a new boat – an offer that he apparently reneged on once the sailor’s lengthy criminal history surfaced.
On Friday, Ashley Ann Malinowski uploaded a TikTok in which she condemned the influencers who have turned her father into an internet celebrity.
Posting to her account, Ashley Ann tearfully said that her father would ‘probably end up dead’ because of all of the attention.
‘Lieutenant Dan was doing just fine without all that money,’ the daughter began.
‘Y’all TikTok… famous people blowing him up… he’s going to be dead before he can even enjoy that boat.’
‘Lieutenant Dan’ has had over 70 contacts with police in Florida and North Carolina since 2012, according to public records seen by DailyMail.com
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Lieutenant Dan's wild night at sea as he emerges from hurricane-battered boat
Ashley Ann then said that her father was ‘high’ in all of the videos, which made her wonder ‘is it just weed?’
She explained that she has had ‘to keep tabs [on her father] for ten years, trying to make sure he’s alive.’
‘Now he’s gonna get all of this and probably end up dead because of it,’ she said.
She said that she was trying not to give the situation too much of her ‘energy,’ clarifying that she just wanted to make sure her father was alive.
But then, when she took aim at her father’s alleged enablers, she started to tear up.
‘Y’all are gonna f****** put him in the grave for making him famous and giving him this money and offering him this s***.
Thousands have donated to the online fundraiser set up by student Terrence Concannon, which now stands at $40,000
‘Y’all don’t even know what the f*** you’re doing. You don’t know that man. You don’t know him at all.’
With tears in her eyes, Ashley Ann then accused influencers of not truly caring about her father’s welfare.
‘Nobody actually f****** cares for him either. Nobody actually cares. Y’all are just using him to make him famous, to make yourselves more famous, to make yourselves look good.’
In the comments, many viewers expressed heartfelt sympathy for Ashley Ann.
Malinowski had lost a leg in a car accident when he was 16 years old
‘As a daughter of an addict I feel this, and I’m so sorry,’ one user wrote.
‘The pain in your voice breaks my heart,’ another viewer remarked.
Other commenters agreed that while some influencers had selfish motives, Concannon had pure intentions when he first started.
‘The first guy Terrance was seriously truing to help him. Then other people got involved and took it too far.’
This week, ‘Lieutenant Dan’ launched his own TikTok account, where he chronicled his survival on his sailboat during Milton. He currently boasts over 270,000 followers.
He was seen sticking his head out of the boat at around 11pm as he insisted to NewsNation reporter Brian Entin that he was ‘fine’
Although Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm, it was later downgraded to Category 1.
But savage winds were still able to rip the fabric roof over the home of baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays to shreds.
Milton also spawned at least 19 tornadoes, causing damage in numerous counties, and destroyed around 125 homes, most of them mobile homes.
As of Friday, more than 3 million homes and businesses were without power. At least 18 people are dead in Milton’s aftermath.