Daniel’s Bodega Incident – April 5th, 2023 Meltdown

On April 5th, 2023, Reddit user u/cybercrimer uploaded a recording of a private Discord call involving Daniel Larson, his management team, and an individual impersonating Olivia VanderWaal. In this recording, Daniel can be seen and heard getting into an altercation with a bodega employee after being asked to leave the premises. This altercation followed the “Bodega Incident” where u/Zokmonkee from the r/Daniellarson subreddit posted videos of himself harassing Daniel, initially at a restaurant and then at the bodega.

Throughout these interactions, these “fans” repeatedly provoked Daniel with questions like whether he smoked crack or tweak and falsely claimed to be his friends, increasing his agitation. Distressed, Daniel mentioned an unspecified “security” force and threatened to call the police on u/Zokmonkee. He also discussed the harassment with the bodega employee he later punched, suggesting the earlier fan interaction might have influenced his behavior leading to his removal from the store. Although there is no direct evidence that they encouraged Daniel to assault the bodega employee, his management and the impersonator “Olivia” did. This incident also birthed the legendary “Crack or Tweak?” meme within the Larsonsphere.

After the initial confrontation, the “fans” continued to follow Daniel through the store, calling his name down random aisles. Daniel eventually called the police, marking the beginning of the video call where most of the incident was captured. This call took place in a private Discord server called “Daniel Larson HQ,” where his “managers” and the fake Olivia VanderWaal communicated with him.

In the Discord call, Daniel was seen being kicked out of Little India Bodega by an employee for recording and causing a disturbance. Daniel claimed the police had directed him to stay at the establishment, though this could not be confirmed. Despite his attempts to explain himself, the employee repeatedly told Daniel to leave, eventually pushing him out of the store. The camera intermittently cut out, but Daniel was seen exiting through the door.

Encouraged by the fake Olivia VanderWaal to defend himself and even spit on the employee, Daniel started screaming that the police told him to wait inside the store. As the situation escalated, the trolls encouraged Daniel to assault the employee. (The full video is available here) shorter version on reddit:

Daniel accused the employee of hitting him multiple times, and when the employee called the police, Daniel, spurred on by the trolls, charged at and attempted to punch the employee. In response, the employee punched Daniel in the eye and pushed him to the ground. Daniel yelled, “I HAVE YOU ON FILM!” while failing to capture the assault due to a shaky or obscured camera. Daniel turned his camera back on, claiming he was injured, with his knee and eye socket bleeding.

Injuries

Daniel did not escape the situation unscathed. He claimed he waited for paramedics due to the black eye he sustained during the altercation. A picture of the black eye was uploaded to Reddit by user u/tawnypunani. About an hour after the incident, Daniel revealed he was still waiting for EMS, fearing he might have sustained a concussion. Later, it was reported that Daniel had checked out of the hospital. During his emergency room visit, he was screened for a concussion, which he did not have, and no serious injuries were reported.

Daniel uploaded another video from the hospital later that night, showing a large gauze bandage on his nose. In the video, Daniel claimed he was attacked by two fans in New York City in 2023. He stated that his only injury was a good-sized cut on his nose, with no fractures. Despite the bandage in the hospital video, it was absent in his subsequent TikTok videos.

On April 6th, Daniel uploaded an image of his hospital visit and discharge instructions to his TikTok page, showing that his only recorded injury was an abrasion.

Post-incident

Following the incident, Daniel’s enemy, New York TikTok user World of T-Shirts, posted a video outside Little India Bodega, claiming to run New York City while slandering Daniel for getting beaten up at the bodega. This video is still available on reddit:

Commentator Coverage

The “Bodega Incident” has been covered by SmokeyMcC in the video “Daniel Larson – Lost in New York“

Sources: reddit.com/u/Zokmonkee/; reddit.com/u/cybercrimer/; daniellarson.wiki; reddit world of tshirts video; reddit bodega: video 1, video 2, video 3; youtube video 1, video 2; reddit hospital image; reddit discord video