Social media personality Dan Hentschel recently ignited widespread concern after posting on his official X account (formerly known as Twitter) a message indicating that he planned to take his own life.
The post featured a photo with “Announcement” boldly written in capital letters, followed by the statement, “I have decided to end my own life. Thanks – Dan Hentschel.”
This alarming message quickly received over 170,000 likes, as users flooded the comments with messages of worry and support. However, some observers noted that Hentschel had engaged in similar behavior in the past, leading them to speculate that the post might be a publicity stunt intended to boost his follower count and expand his reach.
Daniel George Hentschel
Daniel George Hentschel (born June 4, 1996) is an American comedian and satirical creator, known for creating caricatures of himself and other original characters. Through his viral stunts, Hentschel has repeatedly pranked news outlets and viewers of his content into believing parody stories and advice.
Hentschel was raised in Harford County, Maryland. He attended The John Carroll School. Hentschel won the first prize at the Baltimore High School Film Festival. He received a major in Dramatic Writing at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Georgia.
Hentschel first began working as a stand-up comedian in 2017 during his studies at SCAD, performing in two talent shows and becoming the Vice President of the college’s stand-up comedy club.
In 2022, Hentschel gained widespread attention when he posted a series of videos to TikTok with satirical relationship advice. In October, he claimed that he had found a “genius” method to detect if a significant other still has romantic feelings for their ex. He then proposed that viewers should photoshop the ex out of an old photo and see if their partner notices. The video was then posted by outlets such as New York Post, which shared the advice to their Sex and Relationships column and discussed the pros and cons.
In December 2022, Vice reported that the idea of “quiet quitting” a relationship could be attributed to Hentschel, after he uploaded a video where he pretended to be a psychiatrist and gave satirical relationship advice.
In June 2023, Hentschel posted a series of videos on TikTok where he convinced viewers he had put salt in his partner’s water in order to dehydrate her. The videos showed Hentschel in various costumes as he claimed to put bacon grease in his partner’s beauty products. The storyline led to her being hospitalized for poisoning and dying. The joke was an elaborate parody that involved a fake mugshot photo of Hentschel, a fake New York Post article and doctored security footage. After changing his TikTok profile to appear as a true crime news outlet, Hentschel was able to fool viewers into thinking the story was real, including fans who did not know it was his TikTok account.
In August 2024, Hentschel claimed to have taken his girlfriend on a road trip across the United States, with the road layout spelling the words “Will You Marry Me”. He followed up by implying that at the end of the road trip, his girlfriend had broken up with him; the fake story immediately caught the attention of some news outlets.
In January 2025, Hentschel posted a video on social media where he stood on the campus of The John Carroll School, his former school. In the video, he claimed he was “almost a school shooter” in 2013 and described memories of wanting to fire an AK-47 into the bleachers during a sophomore homecoming game. The video caught the attention of administrative staff at The John Carroll School, who identified Hentschel and alerted authorities on January 4.
Later that month, the Bel Air Police Department launched a criminal investigation into Hentschel, releasing a statement on Facebook in which they called the video “disturbing”. Despite assuring the public that Hentschel and his immediate family did not have access to firearms, Hentschel is currently facing a trespassing charge, and the department are consulting the state’s attorney’s office to determine if additional charges are applicable.
On February 16, 2025, Hentschel posted a tweet on X where he claimed to end his own life.
He claims that his videos are “a place that’s between satire and truth” and admits that “an accidental byproduct” of his videos have been “how outrageous [he can] make the premise”, with viewers openly relating to his satirical behavior.