Grace VanderWaal

Grace VanderWaal

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Name: Grace Avery VanderWaal

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DOB: January 15, 2004

Gender: Female

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Grace Avery VanderWaal (Born January 15, 2004) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who Daniel Larson has an obsession with since he was roughly 17. Daniel's obsession with Grace began when he saw her perform on America's Got Talent while watching the show with his grandmother, Nancy Shimer.

Ever since, Daniel has had an unhealthy obsession, despite Grace being underage for the majority of it. Ever since his infatuation with her started, he has convinced himself that he is a part of her life. This imagined 'relationship' progressed rapidly due to Daniel's delusions, which were encouraged more and more by managers, trolls, and those pretending to be Grace. Over time, Daniel's posts regarding her on his numerous social media accounts became increasingly explicit. In many of these posts, Daniel would talk in graphic detail about his sexual fantasies regarding Grace, describing the various inappropriate acts that he would like to do with her.

Grace has never publicly acknowledged Daniel, but according to messages from her mother, Tina VanderWaal, she and her family wants nothing to do with him. Grace (and to a lesser extent, her family) is often impersonated by trolls, who use her identity to gain Daniel's trust. On multiple occasions, Daniel has made a fool of himself by talking to these trolls about disturbing, and often sexual, subjects. Despite having been fooled dozens of times by multiple people pretending to be Grace, he continues to fall for many of these tricks to this day.

Despite being told off by Tina VanderWaal, along with thousands of people online, Daniel still deludes himself into thinking he is truly dating Grace.

The Start

Side-by-side photos of Daniel and Grace for comparison's sake.

Beginning on May 12, 2021, Daniel claimed that he and Grace had some sort of collaboration in the works that would be coming out soon. In a later post to TikTok, Daniel claimed that he and Grace had begun dating. Things escalated quickly from there. Daniel recorded himself on several occasions telling strangers on the streets that he was dating Grace. More disturbingly, Daniel recorded multiple videos of himself moaning and whispering in a sensual manner for Grace's viewing pleasure. In stark contrast to his lustful posts regarding Grace, Daniel has also posted hysterical videos about her 'breaking up' with him, calling her a bitch and various other expletives. Although Daniel made several apologies for the multiple sexually charged videos he made about her, he continues with this disturbing behavior. Regardless of malicious trolls tricking and persuading him into thinking that he was dating Grace, and ultimately engendering his delusions of being with her, Daniel went above and beyond to show his unbridled obsession with her.

Daniel, well aware that Grace was under 18 at the start of his obsession, made various posts claiming that he would, "...wait until Grace is 18." Daniel has claimed to be in either a romantic or sexual relationship with Grace depending on his delusions at the time. If romantic, he claims that Grace is his girlfriend. If sexual, he explains the various explicit sexual acts he'd like to do to her.

Daniel still tries to claim that he does not like Grace for sexual reasons, rather that he "...wants to have a chance" with her. Everything Daniel says about Grace should be taken with a huge grain of salt as he has a tendency to internalize his delusions.

“ I just wanted a chance and I need help! I was never givin a chance and every single time I tried to contact you i get threatened. I really like your daughter for who she is and not for sexual reasons. The trolls want everyone to think it's for sexual reasons. I just wanted to stand out and have a chance with her! I know the competition she has. We are all human and we do sexual activities though. But that doesn't make me a pedophile if I have never even done anything and everyone uses me because I don't have protection. I'm sorry for everything being crazy ”

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  Daniel denying his pedophilic attraction to Grace.

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Daniel holds Grace in particularly high regard. Grace is oftentimes the primary victim of Daniel's delusional harassment like other figures, most notably Bob Proctor. Posts made by Grace on TikTok or Instagram would be filled to the brim with comments from Daniel, as if he were having a conversation with her in real time. Daniel would mention Grace in TikTok videos and tag her, which resulted in her notifications filling up with nothing but Daniel. He did this on almost every TikTok account he has, to the point where one of Daniel's TikTok accounts was suspended for his constant harassment towards her.

As of 2024, Daniel shows no signs of stopping his obsession with her. He is still constantly falling for trolls' claims about Grace, along with agreeing with the orders of people who pretend to be Grace, who get him to do egregious and disturbing things, which cause the production of NSFW videos like the Pencil Incident. Even though his Graceposting has eased up, it has never truly died down or stopped. Daniel's current head-canon is that he and Grace are periodically breaking up and getting back together, with no inbetween.

Although these delusions do appear to be what Daniel is genuinely thinking, Flexburger has said in the past during a AMA that Daniel does not truly believe that he is dating Grace. Instead, it is said he wants to believe it, and likes having someone to sext and talk to.

Delusions

The Death(s) of Grace VanderWaal

Daniel has had multiple delusions of Grace being in harm, in the hospital, or even dying. He is most likely fed these ideas by trolls and Grace impersonators.

The Likee Meltdown

Main Article: The Likee Meltdown

During one delusion, Daniel, seemingly because he was without access to his phone, posted on Likee, a short video creating site that he used during a time he was banned from TikTok, in despair and asking for his followers to get him information from the 'VanderWaal Team'.

Based on the content of these videos, it he believed that there had been some kind of accident, and that the VanderWaal family, (who he believed were in contact with him up until this point), were refusing to give him information about something that supposedly happened to Grace. Throughout the video, Daniel hits himself and threatens to end his own life.

Daniel obviously did not follow through with his threats, as when this incident subsided, he was perfectly fine. Daniel said that if he did not get into contact with the VanderWaal family immediately, he would allegedly be on the streets. This, although small, was a sign of things to come.

"Rest In Peace Dave and Grace VanderWaal"

On the Fourth of July, 2021, Daniel uploaded a video to YouTube mourning the supposed deaths of Grace's father, Dave, and Grace herself.

In this video, Daniel believed that Grace had simultaneously committed suicide and suffered a heart attack. Before Daniel addressed their deaths, he began to cry, hysterically apologizing for sexting minors and sending Grace (or whoever he thought was Grace) pictures of his genitals. He promised to repent for the bad choices he had made and honor her legacy.

After this live-stream, Daniel posted to his TikTok admitting that Grace was one of the minors he had supposedly sexted. Daniel admitted, "I have sexted minors, 13 years old, well I'm gonna be honest, 12 years old". The video ends with Daniel saying that he planned to move on by not doing things such as this anymore and putting in the work to become a better person for her, especially after Grace's 'death.'

It may seem as though the true and honest death of Grace brought about a repentant moment in this particular arc. However, the moment faded quickly as Daniel soon discovered that Grace had not died, and thus resumed his regular obsessive posting about her (and sexting "her" in private dms).

Tyrone

"Tyrone just shot Grace VanderWaal in the abdomen and shoulder"

Daniel, alluding to the hospital Grace was apparently staying at, was being shot up.

During the July 24th freak-out, Daniel believed that Grace was being attacked by an individual named "Tyrone", an African-American man who was setting out to kill her, claiming he had "...just shot Grace VanderWaal in the abdomen and shoulder". Following this, Daniel's community tab was filled with paranoia, as he believed Grace had simultaneously died, and was still alive in the hospital while Tyrone sought to kill her.

During one bout of delusion, Daniel believed that Tyrone was shooting up the hospital Grace was staying at, and it got to the point where there was a "standoff". These posts were probably fuelled by trolls inflaming his paranoia.

Daniel's (Failed) Trek from Colorado to New York

While in contact with Daniel, another account claiming to be Grace told him that she had just had sex with another man. Daniel, fueled by his delusions, rage, and obsession with Grace, decided to hike from Colorado to New York in an attempt to win her back, rambling on TikTok during the night while on his hike.

In these TikToks, Daniel claimed that he had, "...officially fucked up," with Grace to the point that she had broken up with him. In a rare moment of clarity, Daniel said that Grace was her own person and that she could date whoever she wanted to. Daniel’s reason for going to New York was to win back Grace’s love from whomever she was apparently having sex with. He tried to guilt trip her in these videos by saying that he had a, "...[h]eart disease from heartbreak," and details about how hard his childhood was.

As the stream goes on, Daniel stays up through the entire night, to the point where you can see the sun rising in the video, determined to get to Grace. He continues to make wild claims during this walk, along with some karaoke. This walk ended with Daniel returning to Denver as he either got tired from walking or learned that the Grace he had been speaking with was a troll.

Grace "pregnant" with Jacobs baby.

The Grace and Jacob Sartorius Love Affair

Main Article: Jacob Sartorius#Delusions

On July 24th, 2023, Daniel became convinced that Grace, who he had beleived was dating him up until this point, had broken up with him as things were, "..moving too slow", and had soon gotten together with American social media personality and singer, Jacob Sartorius. Daniel would soon believe that Jacob had impregnated Grace, and ordered her assassination by "Tyrone", all at the same time. Daniel's story regarding Jacob rapidly changed, at one point claiming that Jacob was harassing him, and then Grace.

This eventually culminated into Daniel throwing his dinner into a river because of his anger at Grace dating Jacob instead of him.

Contact

Grace's mom responding to what is most likely thousands of messages from Daniel

While it is extremely likely that Grace is aware of Daniel's existence, she has never publicly acknowledged him, despite hundreds of comments and posts by Daniel and his trolls. It is likely that Grace simply does not want to give any of these people attention, mainly Daniel, as he feeds off of it. Some believe that Grace has stopped posting to her TikTok due to Daniel's (along with many others) harassment, although this is unconfirmed.

Tina VanderWaal Contact

Daniel's obsession eventually caused Tina VanderWaal, Grace's mother, to message him on July 25, 2022.

Tina, through Instagram, demanded that Daniel stop making contact with her family, especially her daughter, calling out his mental illness and delusions. Tina then claimed to be in contact with the police, and if Daniel refused to stop making videos and posts about Grace she would make the issue a legal matter and get Daniel arrested. Tina's threats haven't been followed through, and it has been called into question if this was simply an empty threat or something she actually did.

Daniel responded to her messages by stating that he understands, and, more importantly, will be commiting suicide that night. He, of course, does not; and most likely threatened suicide to guilt-trip her or gain attention.

“ Stop saying my daughters name. Stop saying you are in a relationship with her. You are scaring her and our family. Everything you have said and done has been in your own mind. You need to access some mental health support and stop harassing my daughter. I have contacted the authorities and will continue to press the issue of you don't stop making disturbing videos. You followers have harassed my daughter long enough. STOP ”

This interaction with Grace's mother was the focus of multiple videos and community posts for some time after. Daniel posted multiple videos crying and/or apologizing to the VanderWaal family, continuously addressing the 'allegations' against him. However, Daniel fluctuated between admitting to his misdeeds to pretending that they had never happened at all, and were all unsubstantiated just rumors.

Following her messages, Tina made a comment on one of Daniel's live-streams, begging him to stop his obsessive posting.

“ God Daniel….. do you think I’m watching your lives? whoever just contacted you claiming to be me was not me. I have no idea who Ox even is. I don’t want you to talk about Grace or our family anymore. I have only replied to you once when you DM’d me a couple of weeks ago - then I told you to stop saying Grace’s name but clearly you refuse to listen. Stop all of this. Everyone communicating with you are trolls trying to get you to do crazy things. Please STOP ”

Upon receiving this message, Daniel kept on pressing Tina with responses, asking her questions, to which Tina responded with:

“ I do mind. Stop everything to do with our family ESPECIALLY my daughter. You are making me reply publicly so you can’t censor what I’m actually saying to you. I’ve spoken to DDRC as well as the Denver police and Denver FBI. Do you really want to continue this? Again, just stop. Your reality is not real. ”

Daniel responded to these posts by asking even more for forgiveness, claiming things got, "...fucked up," because of his "...past friendships," and that he's misunderstood. He has not received a response. As of 2024, this was the last message that Tina has verifiably sent to Daniel.

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  Gallery of all of Tina's comments to Daniel/His responses. Read from right to left.

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Grace Rape Troll

Messages the troll sent to Daniel.

Sometime in late 2021, Daniel texted a number who claimed to be Grace Vanderwaal; the person behind this number has yet to be identified.

In these texts, "Grace" claimed that she was, oddly enough, at the White House, getting sexually assaulted by her father along with being impregnated by multiple other people. Daniel believed this to be genuine, responding by attempting to convince "Grace" to move out to Denver (where he resided at the time) so that she could press charges on her father and live with Daniel.

The messages started off with Daniel genuinely caring for "Grace's" wellbeing, asking what he can do to help, to Daniel proceeding to ask "Grace" what it felt like to be raped, and what she thought about during it, absolutely desperate to imagine Grace performing intercourse. He claimed to have asked these questions in order to use the information gathered by them in court, although this is obviously unlikely as nothing happened following this.

Whenever this fake Grace would talk about allegedly getting raped, they said that it was being recorded and uploaded to some type of social media or pornographic website. Daniel wanted to know where he could find this footage. After this, Daniel went on to make multiple videos claiming that he had called the police to deal with this matter. Considering his past behavior, and history of wasting emergency services, he likely did actually call the authorities.

AI Prank

On June 16, 2023, Reddit user u/TMZ_news posted a video of Grace VanderWaal's Instagram account, editing the image, so her most recent post was a video addressing Daniel. The video in question being made using AI.

In the video, 'Grace' urges Daniel to leave her and her family alone, reinforcing the fact that Daniel had never been in contact with any of the members of the VanderWaal family. u/TMZ_news went on to post screenshots of messages between him and Tina VanderWaal, where Tina claims the video was taken down due to Grace's "lawyer" advising them to do so, although these messages are mostly likely fake.

Daniel addressed the video on the community section of his YouTube page. His panicked reactions made it apparent that he did not see through the fake posts, and had fallen for the elaborate prank. [citation needed]

Messages with u/TMZ_News

While Daniel himself has not had contact with Grace, on June 21, 2023, u/TMZ_News reached out to Grace to ask if she knew who Daniel was and if she had ever been in contact with him. Grace tells them that they she has never been in contact with Daniel and never plans to be in contact with him, emphatically stating her hatred for him and desire for him to keep her name out his mouth.

“ I know who he is, but I have never contacted him and don't have want anything to do with him. He's the worst thing that has ever happened to my career. Every time I search my name I see pictures of that dirty pedophile. My posts get spammed with comments about that freak Daniel. I hate him and I wish he would just stop talking about me. ”

They reply to Grace with their condolences for both her and her family, offering to stop messaging Grace about Daniel.

“ No, it's okay I understand that you're just trying to help. It's nice having someone to talk to about the problem and I can tell that you're a nice guy. ”

This was the last message Grace sent before their exchange ended.

There is a very high chance that even if Daniel sees these messages, he won't change. Because of Daniel's delusions, he will likely go on thinking that Grace loves him and that everyone else is a liar. This response, if authentic, would only inspire Daniel to keep trying as his efforts have proven successful in making her aware of him.

However, it is extremely likely that these messages are fake. This same user had already faked posts from Grace's Instagram in order to trick Daniel, thus any other media coming from U/TMZ_news should be taken with a grain of salt. Until more evidence comes out, it is safe to assume that the exchange pictured above is faked.

However, the overarching fact remains that Grace and her family want nothing to do with Daniel. Do not contact the VanderWaals about Daniel Larson.