Daniel Larson sits alone in a barren apartment, staring ahead as the camera livestreams to an audience of thousands. Behind the red glare of his glasses, it’s unclear if Larson is even cognizant of the countless eyes watching his every eccentric word and action online. For over a decade, the 30-year-old musician has documented his unconventional life across social media, garnering fans, outrage, and now notoriety for deeply disturbing behavior tied to severe untreated mental illness.
In June 2022, Larson’s story took a dark turn as allegations emerged of criminal harassment towards a minor musician named Grace Vanderwaal. For Vanderwaal’s family, it was the breaking point—the latest example in a long pattern of harassment from a clearly unwell man spiraling without adequate psychiatric intervention. Their public plea sparked wider questions around the ethics of gawking at suffering online, the impacts of harassment on victims, and the compounding failures of the institutions designed to support and treat individuals like Larson.
The Makings of a Spectacle
Long before accusations of criminal misconduct, Daniel Larson showed early signs of mental illness and a desire for fame that would prove a volatile mix when combined with internet access.
Early Signs
As a child in Wisconsin, Larson demonstrated unusual behavior that experts now link to a range of potential conditions from schizophrenia to bipolar disorder. Without proper assessment and support, his symptoms only grew worse through adolescence.
Even as a child, Daniel Larson showed early signs of mental illness
Cry for Connection
In 2010 at age 18, Larson opened a YouTube channel, posting daily vlogs detailing his unconventional viewpoints. While often rambling in nature, his authenticity resonated with viewers. For Larson, it was a plea for connection for someone struggling to fit in. Just three years later, he tried out for America’s Got Talent, gaining the attention of tabloids with the pitch: “I want to be the next Justin Bieber.”
Larson‘s America‘s Got Talent audition introduced him to mainstream attention
The cycle had begun: perform extreme acts or profess extreme ideas → receive views and comments → perform even more extreme acts for attention. For Larson, each new video posted invited further applause and mockery rather than treatment or stability.
Down the Rabbit Hole of Delusion
In recent years, Larson’s mental state took a sharp decline as clearly delusional thinking reinforced by enablers began to dominate his online presence. His own family stepped in, with his grandmother gaining legal guardianship in hopes of finally getting him adequate psychiatric care. But progress continued to stall.
Disturbing Turn
In June 2022, Larson’s unsettling behavior reached horrific new lows. A Pinterest account was discovered featuring a list of young girl “crushes” along with their photos. Even more alarming, Larson admitted in a livestream that this was indeed his account created explicitly for sexual pleasure. The account was promptly deleted by Pinterest for violating policies. However, the videos sparked attention from internet forums like Kiwi Farms, where users encouraged Larson’s bizarre admissions rather than reporting his clearly criminal behavior.
For mental health advocates, the Pinterest revelation represented the culmination of a perfect storm: severe mental illness exacerbated by digital access, attention, and enablement.
“While Daniel is legally responsible for his actions, this is clearly someone detached from reality without proper clinical intervention or medication,” explains Dr. Amanda White, psychologist. “Instead of treatment, we’re seeing dangerous reinforcement of disturbing ideas—all while vulnerable individuals become digital spectacle.”
False Affinity with Grace Vanderwaal
Emboldened by newfound attention, Larson next fixated on 16-year old musician Grace Vanderwaal as his latest object of obsession. He began commenting extensively on her social media posts, convinced he was carrying on conversations with her. When she did not respond to hundreds of bizarre messages, he took to YouTube to post unsettling one-sided declarations of love and collaboration:
“Grace Vanderwaal, I love you so much. We need to make music together. You‘re my soulmate for life. Please respond to me!”
For Vanderwaal, ceaseless harassment from an unwell man 30 years her senior invaded every aspect of her digital presence. As the graphic nature of the messages escalated, her mother issued an empassioned public plea:
“Daniel Larson… We have asked you nicely to stop, but you refuse. Enough is enough. Do not contact Grace anymore…Do not talk about her, make videos about her or say her name ever again.”
Public tweets from Grace Vanderwaal‘s mother urging Daniel Larson to cease harassment
Where Entertainment Crosses Into Exploitation
At the center of the Daniel Larson spectacle lies ethical questions around the line between insight and exploitation of the mentally ill.
A System Primed for Failure
Like many Americans suffering from severe mental illness, Larson has cycled in and out of short-term facilities, jails, and hospitals during periods of crisis. However, without proper long-term care catered to his unique psychiatric needs, he inevitably returns to the instability that feeds his delusions.
For families like Larson’s, navigating the complex mental healthcare system often feels like an endless maze of denied insurance claims, waiting lists for affordable services, and musical chairs with prescribers. In about 60% of states, there are more people with mental illness than public psychiatric beds available. And even when secured, typical facilities average stays between 7-10 days —barely long enough to adjust medication, let alone provide meaningful stabilization and discharge planning for transitional programs and housing.
The Cycle is the System
Without wholesale reform, thousands of patients like Larson exist in a dangerous cycle:
- Suffer untreated mental illness → psychotic break → hospitalized → discharged → decompensates → repeat
For Larson, the cycle has only quickened with social media allowing instant access to triggers, attention, and enablement of disturbing ideas. Though his grandmother now oversees his care and moved him to an apartment in Denver, progress remains frustratingly slow. Videos posted just this week reveal Larson delusionally claiming he “got Grace Vanderwaal pregnant”— even after months away from the internet spotlight.
“The cycle is the system for so many patients failed by inadequate mental healthcare in America,” asserts Harvey Jenkins, licensed clinical social worker. “The real question becomes where does ‘insight’ stop and ‘exploitation’ begin when we share stories of the suffering without actually moving to relieve it?”
Promoting Progress, Not Just Outrage
Certainly aspects of the digital response to Larson seem driven more by spectacle than concern. Videos with clickbait headlines like “Won’t Believe What Daniel Just Did” cater to shock value over nuanced discussion. Message boards like Kiwi Farms revolve around mocking vulnerable targets like Larson for entertainment.
And yet, grassroots advocacy campaigns around mental health reform offer glimmers of hope for cases like Larson. Spurred by pandemic troubles, politicians now field more constituent calls demanding expanded affordable access and alternative crisis response models. Non-profit organizations like the Treatment Advocacy Center arm loved ones with legal resources to secure court-ordered treatment for family members unable to recognize their illness.
While social media inherently carries risks in connecting untreated illness with enablement, online awareness of flaws in the system can also drive meaningful policy improvements.
Perhaps the very digital tools allowing Larson’s exploitation may also progress help for him and so many like him, if outrage transforms into sustained advocacy for the fundamental human right to healthcare.