Kick co-owner Adin Ross has debunked rumors that he took away his offer to viral TikToker Lieutenant Dan for a new boat and a Kick contract.
Just ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall in Florida on October 9, 2024, 54-year-old Joseph Malinowski went viral across TikTok.
The man, whose nickname ‘Lieutenant Dan’ comes from the Forrest Gump character of the same name, stayed in his 20-foot sailboat throughout the entirety of the storm, shocking netizens.
During Hurricane Milton, Kick streamer Adin Ross brought the man onto his broadcast, where he offered the man a new boat and a Kick deal to livestream his future endeavors.
“We’re going to pay for a boat for you, in the range of $50,000 to $100,000. And we’re going to get you a full-time Kick deal, which is a livestreaming deal, where you can livestream your entire voyages,” Ross said.
After his phone call with Dan, Ross discovered that the man had a record of altercations with the police over the years, and was a bit shocked at the findings.
Rumors swirled around social media using a clip of Adin looking shocked, claiming that the streamer had purportedly rescinded the offer to Lt Dan.
TikToker ‘Ohthatsnesh’ posted a video with Malinowski on October 10, where he said that, “as far as he knows,” Adin rescinded the offer. It quickly went viral, and viewers flooded the comments with their thoughts about the situation.
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However, Adin quickly responded to the rumors in a post on his alternate account on X, making it clear that he never said he was taking the offer away.
“I said this right after the clip where I reacted to Lieutenant Dan, I never said I was taking the offer/deal/boat away, the internet loves to make me look bad,” he said.
“Everyone’s innocent until proven guilty, first of all. I don’t give a f**k. Until I see some facts and sh*t, and proof, it don’t mean sh*t to me,” he said.
On his stream, Adin revealed he messaged Terrance Concannon – the TikToker that initially helped Lt Dan go viral – asking if he had found a boat he liked.
“Dan is getting his boat, and he’s getting everything,” he said. “Leave that man alone. I’ll make sure he gets the boat, money… everything.
As for when Lt Dan will make his first appearance on Kick, however, we’ll have to wait to see… but he won’t be viral name to make their way to the Stake-owned streaming platform.
“Hawk Tuah girl” Haliey Welch had her first stream on the site during Dreamhack, broadcasting her voyage around the event center on October 5, 2024.