It’s not hard to see the appeal of Harry Daniels – most people are won over within moments of stumbling across one of his videos.
The TikTok star, 22, originally from Long Island, has amassed a massive following thanks to his viral ‘Can I sing for you?’ clips, which show him approaching celebrities and asking their permission before breaking into song, usually off-key.
Seeing how they react to the seemingly random and bizarre fan encounters has captured the attention of millions, and his cringeworthy yet captivating performances have made Daniels a social media sensation.
But it seems he is very different when the cameras stop rolling.
The Daily Mail has learned that behind Daniels’ endearing clips lies a darker story of someone so ‘desperate’ for fame that he was allegedly willing to start fights for attention and, as his popularity took off, brutally cut off friends who no longer served him, including those who helped him meet celebrities and build his profile.
Sources close to Daniels have shed new light on his unconventional rise, with one claiming that before he became well known, he would ‘beg’ for information on stars’ whereabouts around New York City in the hopes of being able to film his next video.
In these accounts, he was depicted as alarmingly ‘obsessed’ with going viral, and as having become an arrogant figure reliant on staged encounters with stars rather than the spontaneous moments that first made him popular.
‘He’s always been attention seeking, and initially, his videos were purely for the shock factor,’ one source who knows Daniels told the Daily Mail.
Harry Daniels, 22, has amassed a massive following thanks to his viral clips, which show him approaching stars and asking if he can sing to them before breaking out into song
His cringeworthy yet captivating performances have made Daniels a social media sensation
‘He used to meet celebrities around New York City and ask me for info all the time, but as soon as he got “famous,” he unfollowed me.’
Daniels has said that going viral is like a ‘drug’ to him.
‘It’s like every time you go viral, it’s kind of like a drug,’ he said on his podcast, Chronically Online with Harry Daniels, which launched earlier this month.
The A-listers’ reactions to his singing range from extreme annoyance to begrudged entertainment.
John Cena famously shut him down mid-song and brutally said: ‘I’m not buying what you’re selling. Thanks, though.’ Billie Eilish exclaimed: ‘Not you! I’m not gonna stand here while you sing.’
Ariana Grande, on the other hand, bowed down to him, and former President Barack Obama clapped and told others around him: ‘That was outstanding, I wish I had pipes like that.’
Daniels has been open about the fact that he spent much of his childhood on ‘Stan Twitter,’ heavily invested in the celebrity world, even creating his own Demi Lovato fan account at age nine.
After being contacted for comment on the claims in this story, he responded by calling it a ‘hit piece’ and shared images on social media that included selfies of the reporter with various celebrities.
Daniels, who first went viral at the age of 13, with makeup mogul Jeffree Star in 2024
He previously told PAPER: ‘I looked at pop culture as a form of escapism, because I feel like I really didn’t resonate or understand a lot of the kids who were growing up around me.’
He first went viral in 2018, when he was 13, after getting into a fight with a Selena Gomez fan named Ronnie outside a signing event for singer Camila Cabello.
The clip showed Daniels in a screaming match with Ronnie, who at the time was well-known online, over who was more talented – Gomez or Swedish artist Zara Larsson. It got millions of views.
Ronnie told the Daily Mail that he believes Daniels started the fight with him as an attempt to go viral online.
‘A couple of days before, I was on Instagram Live, I used to do this thing where I would hop on with random viewers and he requested to join my Live,’ he recalled.
‘We went on Instagram Live together and he started trolling me, he started saying that Zara Larsson was better than Selena Gomez.
‘I was really passionate back then, so it started this back and forth on Instagram Live. I remember him getting so agitated that he was literally shaking. It was very intense. That was our first encounter.’
‘A couple of days later, we were in [New York City] for a Camila Cabello signing, I was there with my friend and I went on Instagram Live again and he tuned in and he happened to be in the same place,’ Ronnie continued.
‘He recognized where I was and [came up to me] with all of his friends.’
Ronnie alleged that Daniels approached him and immediately started arguing while his friends filmed them.
Insiders alleged that Daniels was always seeking social media attention and once he had a taste of online fame, he became ‘obsessed’
He told PAPER in 2024 that his end goal is to use his platform to become a famous singer
‘I felt like, “OK, he wants a show, I’ll give him a show.” So we started getting into each other’s faces, screaming, going back and forth debating,’ he explained. ‘And that’s how the [viral] video was born.’
Ronnie said he believes ‘the whole thing was for attention,’ adding: ‘His end goal was always to get that attention, one way or another.
‘I was at my peak of [social media fame at the time] and everything I did was getting [attention] on Stan Twitter.
‘The video blew up. He got what he wanted. He was just being a troll, it’s always been part of his personality.
‘I’m pretty sure he and his friends planned the whole thing… it seemed like he was looking for a show.’
Daniels discussed the fight with PAPER in 2024. When asked if he had argued with Ronnie as a ‘joke for the internet,’ Daniels insisted: ‘No, that was my reality.
‘It got to a point where I was so immersed in pop culture. It felt so important. It was life or death to me. I couldn’t understand how anyone could care about anything else that wasn’t pop culture. Too much of anything is bad. I was really immersed at that point, but we got a really funny video out of it, so who cares?’
Even so, Ronnie believes it was that video that gave Daniels a taste of what it felt like to be internet famous and sparked a drive in him.
‘I think that video was the starting point where he realized, “I can do something with this,”‘ Ronnie said.
‘He got the idea of, let me use this [newfound attention] for something. He had a little bit of clout from the Zara Larsson video, so it was a nice segue for him.’
Former friends remember Daniels waiting outside celebrities’ hotels and various star-studded events and TV show tapings around New York City in the hopes of meeting them.
Daniels tells it slightly differently. He told Vogue in 2024 about how it all started: ‘My admiration for these artists led me to look into their journeys, to understand what propelled them to where they are today – and that’s when I started figuring out ways to connect with them myself.’
During the interview, he insisted that most of his encounters had been ‘by chance,’ adding: ‘I attend many press events hoping to cross paths with people, but oftentimes it’s by chance.
‘I’ll approach them, and they’ll recognize me and know exactly what’s about to go down – I don’t chase, I attract.’
His first viral ‘Can I sing for you?’ video was shared in 2022 and showed him belting out, noticeably off-key, to Sabrina Carpenter. He was at her album signing and told the publication that a friend ‘egged him on to prank her.’
‘I decided to play along, claimed I was a singer, and belted out a song… and well, people found it funny, so it kind of became a thing,’ he said.
According to another of Daniels’ former pals, once he started filming videos of himself singing to the stars and they took off online, he became ‘obsessed.’
They recalled him being ‘desperate’ to get his next viral clip, claiming: ‘If he didn’t get one video [with a celebrity] he would be in a p**sy mood.’
Daniels during New York Fashion Week in February last year
‘He would be like, “I need to get this video.” It was like his drug, his air, he couldn’t breathe unless he got that video. If he had to pick between eating food and getting a celebrity video, he was getting the video.’
Another witness to Daniels’ early days also recalled him ‘going mental’ trying to get a video of himself singing to a celebrity.
His fierce determination, which sometimes came off as ‘annoying’ or ‘obnoxious’ to those around him, certainly paid off. He now has over 2.3 million followers on TikTok and 318 million likes across his videos.
According to figures reported on the influencer analytics platform Hafi, Daniels makes an estimated $23,000 to $36,000 a month from his videos.
He has sung to an array of stars, including Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Timothee Chalamet, Kendall Jenner, Katy Perry, Paris Hilton, Margot Robbie, Kelly Clarkson and Sarah Paulson, among others.
Daniels’ former friend – who asked to remain anonymous – alleged to the Daily Mail that as the influencer’s account began to take off, they saw his personality start to change.
The source claimed that Daniels began acting ‘entitled and snobby’ and it seemed like he believed he was ‘better than everyone else.’
‘People like that, who are growing [in followers], they just feel like they can do whatever they want,’ his former friend said.
The individual claimed that Daniels ultimately blocked them on Instagram.
They added: ‘Harry’s the type of person who will flip the script really fast. You have to walk on eggshells around him. At any moment, you could be disposed of. I really saw that [firsthand]. He’s not a genuine person.’
While Daniels’ videos might have been random at first, the friend claimed that it’s no secret among people who know him that most of the videos are now ‘set up’ with the celebrity or their team.
A second insider reiterated these claims, telling the Daily Mail: ‘Some videos are set up, some are not, but most nowadays are.
‘From what I hear, it’s the [celebrity’s] team [who DMs him], like the publicist. The majority of his singing videos are now pre-arranged.’
Daniels admitted to PAPER that celebrities’ ‘teams got involved really early,’ explaining: ‘Certain labels and teams were really privy to the whole thing, and certain people take their influencer relations really seriously. That’s definitely been a huge part of it from day one.’
Rolling Stone also profiled him in 2024 and reported that he had gone from ‘chance encounters to organized meetups,’ describing how Dua Lipa’s publicist met with him at a hotel and ‘gave him instructions’ so he could ‘bump into’ the singer when she was arriving.
Daniels also confessed to setting up his viral video with Conan Gray, explaining: ‘I sent an email to Republic Records and was like, “Hi, I’m coming to LA for three days. And if you guys have anyone you want me to work with, I would love to do something.” And they said, “I’ll see if [Conan Gray] is interested.” And he was.’
In February 2023, he was invited by the marketing firm FanMade to go on the red carpet at the People’s Choice Awards and interview stars. The company also gave him backstage passes at iHeartRadio Jingle Ball in December 2023 so he could capture more singing videos.
And according to a source, most of Daniels’ inner circle only spend time with him because of these connections.
‘Before his internet fame took off, all of his friends hated him and were on the verge of dropping him, but now that he gets all these connections, they suck up to him,’ they alleged.
‘He always gets them into things in LA and [most recently] he rented everyone a house to stay in at Coachella.’
Even so, it seems Daniels has a clear goal in mind, and to him, these are just stepping stones to get him there.
He previously told PAPER that he is determined to become a famous singer himself – and that all of this was part of that plan. He released his first single, I’m Him, in October 2024.
‘All I ever really wanted to do was music. I want [a career in music] so badly that I’m not going to let anyone’s thoughts or expectations or judgments get in the way,’ he said. ‘I’m confident and fearless in my abilities as a musician. [But] in order to get people to take that seriously, I needed to get ahead somehow.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Daniels’ representatives for comment.
