Elijah Daniel

Elijah Daniel
Daniel in January 2014
Born (1994-01-09) January 9, 1994
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Residence Los Angeles, California
Nationality United States
Occupation
  • Comedian
  • Rapper
  • Author
  • Youtube Personality
Years active 2011–present
Known for Trump Temptations (2016)[1][2][3]
Awards Best Comedian, Shorty Awards (2017)[4][5][6]

Elijah Daniel, (born January 9, 1994) is an American comedian, rapper, and author. He became popular online through his comedy on YouTube and social media.[1][7][8]

Daniel is the author of the erotic novel Trump Temptations.[9][10] His book went viral, and saw significant sales the day it was published, rising to the top of sales lists in multiple categories.[3][7][11] The book received a favorable reception.[1][10][2] Trump Temptations became the top seller on Amazon.com in three categories: humorous erotica, LGBT erotica, and gay erotica.[12][13][14]

Elijah Daniel began rapping under the name Lil Phag in late 2017, often featuring Dr. Woke. [15]

Daniel was nominated for Best Comedian with collaborator Christine Sydelko, and won the award at the 9th Shorty Awards.[5][6][4]

Early life

Elijah Daniel was born in Detroit, Michigan. He was raised as an evangelical Christian. After his grandmother became ill, Daniel moved into her residence to care for her.[7] During this period, he began to write comedy to occupy himself.[7] He publicized his comedy work through posts on Twitter,[7] and videos to Vine.[16]

Career

2013–15: Career beginnings and White House petition

Daniel led an online White House petition in 2013 to make the Miley Cyrus song "Party in the U.S.A." the U.S. national anthem.[16][17] It received international coverage.[18] Starting in 2014, he began hosting a weekly internet prank with CollegeHumor called Text Prank Thursday, where he would have his Twitter followers text random phone numbers saying whatever he told them to say.[19][20] Daniel told Vice that he cultivated a group of followers online who appreciated his absurd and bizarre comedic antics.[17] By 2016, his Twitter following had grown to over 95,000.[1][21][22]

2016–17: Trump Temptations and film

In 2016 Daniel stated on Twitter that he was going to get drunk and write an erotic novel starring Donald Trump.[3][23][24] Daniel was inspired by a tweet which said the user wished to perform a sex act on Bernie Sanders.[9][21] He wrote the work as a parody of Fifty Shades of Grey.[25][26][27] Within four hours, he had released the erotic novel titled Trump Temptations: The Billionaire & The Bellboy on Amazon.[28][29][30] This was Daniel's debut novel.[31]

Trump Temptations became the number one best seller on Amazon.com in three categories: humorous erotica, LGBT erotica, and gay erotica.[12][13][14] The book was listed on Amazon above Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James,[17] and was featured in The Washington Post,[1] Daily News,[32] Los Angeles Times,[10] GQ,[2] Gay Star News,[33] London Evening Standard,[27] The Daily Telegraph,[22] and Vice.[11] The Guardian classed the work as part of the "small but burgeoning new genre: satirical books about Donald Trump" that began with the 2016 presidential campaign.[34] Cosmopolitan called the book a literary success.[35]

Daniel hired Trump impersonator Chris Ferretti to read the audiobook.[1][36][37]

Trump biographer Marc Shapiro wrote in Trump This! that Daniel's novel was one of the most infamous works capitalizing on interest in Trump.[29] An article in Fortune said that Daniel displayed a Trump-like skill to capitalize on a niche demand.[38]

Daniel's book attracted 900,000 readers on the Wattpad website.[39][40][41]

2016: YouTube success, TV pilots, and film deal

In May 2016, Daniel negotiated a rights deal with film studio NakedSword to turn his novel into a feature film.[39][40][41] They began adapting the story in 2016.[39][41][42] NakedSword stated they were interested in the project due to the absurd nature of the plot.[39][40][41]

In January 2017, Daniel and Sydelko released a parody video of the song "Closer" originally by The Chainsmokers, featuring Halsey.[43] The video prompted a response from Halsey, who criticized the parody and Daniel and Sydelko's supporters.[43]

Based on the press he received for his book, Daniel was able to sell two TV series proposals.[17][12][44] In conjunction with production firm PRØHBTD, Daniel was given roles of actor, producer, and creator of the two series.[7] These included one docu-series titled Elijah Daniel is Insane, and one scripted comedy titled Social co-starring Vine comedian Christine Sydelko.[1][7] In October 2016, FOTV Media Networks Inc. announced a business partnership with Daniel and Sydelko to produce a full season of their series Trash, Talking.[45][46]

On August 30, 2017, Elijah Daniel performed a publicity stunt centered around Hell, Michigan – an unincorporated town that allows visitors to pay for the opportunity to hold the title of "mayor" for a day.[47] In what he called "a copy-and-paste of Trump's Muslim ban", he announced a satirical law that banned heterosexuals from entering and living in the town.[48] In response, Daniel released an edited version of The Bible called The Holy Bible... but Gayer two weeks later. Sales of it were briefly banned on Amazon before being restored.[49]

Personal life

As of 2017, Daniel resides in Los Angeles, California.[7][8]

LGBT advocacy

After the Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016, Daniel publicly urged on Twitter for any closeted people to feel free to contact him privately for support,[50] and he published "An open letter to the LGBT kids who feel lost and scared" on Fusion.net.[50][51] The letter positively received by ATTN:, which called it a powerful commentary on the attack.[50]

After receiving homophobic death threats via Twitter, in July 2016 Daniel messaged someone he believed to be the parents of the user about the incident and publicly posted a screenshot of his message to them.[52][53] His response was praised by Metro News and Elite Daily.[52][53]

Reception

Critical response

Elijah Daniel and Christine Sydelko jointly won Best Comedian from the Shorty Awards in 2017.[4][54] Daniel received a positive reception for his comedy posted via video blogging and social media, from Heavy.com,[8] Paper,[7] The Washington Post,[1] and The Daily Dot.[16]

Discography

Singles

As lead artist [55]
Title Year Album
"Phaggot" 2017 God Hates Lil Phag
"Elton John"
(with Hoodie Allen and Dr. Woke)
"Gucci Christmas"
(with Dr. Woke)		 Non-album single
"Deadahh"
(with Tana Mongeau and Dr. Woke)		 God Hates Lil Phag
"Phucked Ur Dad" Non-album single
"Clout 9"
(with Bella Thorne, Tana Mongeau and Dr. Woke)		 2018 God Hates Lil Phag
":)"
(with MOD SUN and Dr. Woke)
"Rick and Morty"
(with Rico Nasty and Dr. Woke)
"3AM Anxiety"
(with Dr. Woke)
"Iced Out Dick"
(with Cupcakke and Dr. Woke)
"Third Eye Gucci"
(with Dr. Woke)		 TBA
"It's My Money, And I Need It Now"
(with Dr. Woke)		 God Hates Lil Phag
As featured artist
Title Year Album
"Art Hoe"
(Call Me Karizma ft LIL PHAG)		 2017 Non-album single

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Director Notes
2014 Lost River Actor: Big Bad Wolf Club Member Ryan Gosling [56]
Happy Ending Actor: Lonely Guy Texting At The Bar / Pedestrian Krishna D.K., Raj Nidimoru [57]
2017 Division 19 Actor: Pedestrian S.A. Halewood [58]

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Low Winter Sun Actor: Concession Stand Boy Episodes 8 and 9, Season 1[59][60]
2015 12 Monkeys Actor: Survivor Pilot episode[61]
2016 DSN: Drunk Shopping Network Himself Episode #1.16[62]
Givit Wednesday Producer, Writer, Editor, Actor Givit.com[63][64]
Trash, Talking Producer, Writer FOTV Media Networks Inc.[45][46]

Music videos

Year Title Artist Director Notes
2013 "Badman"B.A.PHong Won-ki of ZanyBros[65]
2017 "Bing Bong: Official Video, Closer by the Chainsmokers & Halsey Parody"Elijah Daniel & Christine SydelkoTom Harlock[43][66]
2017 "Young Dumb & Broke" Khalid [67]

Tours

Headlining
  • Probably A Terrible Rap Matinee Tour (2018) (with Dr. Woke)

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Notes
2017 Shorty Awards Best Comedian Elijah Daniel & Christine Sydelko - Winner in Comedy Won [4][6][5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Andrews-Dyer, Helena (January 26, 2016), "The 7 best punchlines from the Trump erotica e-book that's currently No. 1 on Amazon", The Washington Post, archived from the original on July 16, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  2. 1 2 3 Moore, Jack (January 25, 2016), "Politics - The 9 Best Quotes from the Erotic Donald Trump eBook That's Blowing Up on Amazon", GQ, archived from the original on January 31, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  3. 1 2 3 Dicker, Rachel (January 28, 2016), "A Gay Erotica Novella About Donald Trump Is an Amazon Best-Seller - Let 'Trump Temptations' sweep you away.", U.S. News & World Report, archived from the original on February 14, 2016, retrieved July 18, 2017
  4. 1 2 3 4 "From the 9th Annual Shorty Awards - Elijah Daniel & Christine Sydelko - Winner in Comedy", 9th Annual Shorty Awards, Shorty Awards, April 23, 2017, archived from the original on June 6, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  5. 1 2 3 Lee, Ashley (January 17, 2017), "Shorty Awards Nominees Include Ryan Reynolds, Kristen Bell, Leslie Jones (Exclusive)", The Hollywood Reporter, archived from the original on June 24, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  6. 1 2 3 Spangler, Todd (March 2, 2017), "Shorty Awards 2017 Social-Media Finalists Announced", Variety, archived from the original on March 3, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Binder, Shawn (January 26, 2016). "Catching Up With Elijah Daniel on His Viral Trump Erotic Novel". Paper. Archived from the original on December 10, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 Orfanides, Effie (July 5, 2017), "Elijah Daniel Death Hoax Confuses Fans", Heavy.com, archived from the original on July 6, 2017, retrieved July 17, 2017
  9. 1 2 Binder, Shawn (January 22, 2016). "Talking to the guy who got drunk, wrote Donald Trump gay erotica, and put it on Amazon". Fusion.net. Archived from the original on October 15, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 Schaub, Michael (January 26, 2017). "Donald Trump erotica novel is a huuuge hit on Amazon". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 3, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  11. 1 2 McManus, Brian (January 22, 2016). "Meet the Comedian Who Wrote a Hit Erotic Novella Starring Donald Trump". Vice. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  12. 1 2 3 Solis, Marie (January 27, 2016), "New Erotic Novella 'Trump Temptation' Is Probably a Great Beach Read — If You're Into That", Mic, retrieved July 18, 2017, As of this writing, the book is No. 1 on both Amazon's 'gay erotica' and 'humorous erotica' bestseller lists.
  13. 1 2 "Erotic Donald Trump novella tops Amazon charts", The Week, January 26, 2016, archived from the original on May 9, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  14. 1 2 Ellefson, Lindsey (January 26, 2016), "Amazon Customers Make Erotica Great Again by Making Sexy Trump Novella Top E-Book", Mediaite, archived from the original on July 31, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  15. ↑ "Elijah Daniel is now LIL PHAG, and he just dropped a new music video | ELEVATOR". ELEVATOR. 2017-12-02. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  16. 1 2 3 O'Hara, Mary Emily (January 27, 2016), "This drunk guy's hot gay Donald Trump fanfic is making America horny again", The Daily Dot, archived from the original on August 5, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  17. 1 2 3 4 "Hoe een homo-erotische novelle over Donald Trump een bestseller werd", HP/De Tijd (in Dutch), Netherlands, January 28, 2016, ISSN 0924-9648, OCLC 783712545, archived from the original on April 7, 2016, retrieved July 22, 2017
  18. ↑
    • "Hoe een homo-erotische novelle over Donald Trump een bestseller werd". HP/De Tijd (in Dutch). Netherlands. January 28, 2016. ISSN 0924-9648. OCLC 783712545. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
    • "Fans Miley Cyrus willen 'Party in the USA' als nieuw volkslied". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). Belgium. July 8, 2013. Archived from the original on July 12, 2013. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
    • "Miley Cyrus' fans petition to make `Party in the USA` US national anthem". Hindustan Times. July 8, 2013. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
    • Hernandez, Brian (July 7, 2013). "Petition Wants Miley's 'Party in the U.S.A.' to be New National Anthem". Mashable. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
    • Rothman, Michael (July 9, 2013). "Should 'Party in the USA' Be the National Anthem?". ABC News. Archived from the original on July 1, 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  19. ↑ Daniel, Elijah (March 6, 2014). "Epic Twitter Prank: What Happens When You Text a Stranger "Your Girlfriend Needs to Know About Us"". CollegeHumor. Archived from the original on June 14, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  20. ↑ Grant, Hannah (March 13, 2014). "Text Prank Thursday: What Happens When You Tell A Stranger You Slept With His Girlfriend". CollegeHumor. Archived from the original on April 12, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  21. 1 2 Donohoe, Rose (January 26, 2016), "Donald Trump stars in 'sensual and tawdry' erotic novel", The New Daily, retrieved July 18, 2017
  22. 1 2 "Gay-erotic novel about Donald Trump becomes overnight hit", The Daily Telegraph, January 27, 2016, archived from the original on June 3, 2016, retrieved July 18, 2017
  23. ↑ Nagesh, Ashitha (January 22, 2016), "Someone wrote an erotic novel all about Donald Trump and you can now buy it on Amazon", Metro News, archived from the original on April 4, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  24. ↑ Brathwaite, Les Fabian (January 26, 2016), "Gay Erotic Novella Starring Donald Trump Becomes #1 Bestseller", Out, archived from the original on March 8, 2016, retrieved July 18, 2017
  25. ↑ Taylor, Chris (January 22, 2016), "Trump erotica vs. Cruz erotica: Who wins the primary of porn?", Mashable, archived from the original on December 1, 2016, retrieved July 18, 2017
  26. ↑ Bhutia, Jigmey (January 26, 2016), "Donald Trump gay erotic novel tops Amazon charts", International Business Times, archived from the original on March 16, 2016, retrieved July 18, 2017
  27. 1 2 Butter, Susannah (January 27, 2016), "How the internet trumped Donald Trump with cat combovers and erotica", London Evening Standard, archived from the original on January 27, 2016, retrieved July 18, 2017
  28. ↑ Barrell, Ryan (January 26, 2016), "'Trump Temptation: The Billionaire And The Bellboy' Is The Donald Trump Erotic Novel You Never Knew You Needed", The Huffington Post, archived from the original on March 24, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  29. 1 2 Shapiro, Marc (2016), Trump This!: The Life and Times of Donald Trump, An Unauthorized Biography, Riverdale Avenue Books, p. 80, ISBN 978-1626012646
  30. ↑ Duffy, Nick (January 26, 2016), Someone wrote gay erotica about Donald Trump and it’s as bad as you think, archived from the original on May 31, 2016, retrieved July 18, 2017
  31. ↑ Gauthier, Brendan (January 26, 2016), "'Leathery yet frigid flesh of a privileged and hypocritical billionaire': The Amazon reviews for Donald Trump gay erotica satire are amazing", Salon, archived from the original on March 16, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  32. ↑ Wagner, Meg (January 22, 2016). "Comedian writes gay erotic fiction starring 'soggy Cheeto' Donald Trump". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  33. ↑ Morgan, Joe (January 27, 2016), "The 7 most hilarious lines from the gay kinky sex novel about Donald Trump", Gay Star News, archived from the original on March 18, 2016, retrieved July 18, 2017
  34. ↑ Flood, Alison (July 27, 2016), "Picture books and porn: mini-boom in satirical titles inspired by Donald Trump", The Guardian, archived from the original on June 7, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  35. ↑ Smothers, Hannah (January 25, 2016), "9 Steamy Excerpts From Donald Trump Erotica That Will Leave You Hot and Bothered", Cosmopolitan, archived from the original on January 18, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  36. ↑ Richter, Greg (January 26, 2016), "Trump Featured in Erotic E-book with Huge Amazon Sales", Newsmax, archived from the original on March 4, 2016, retrieved July 18, 2017
  37. ↑ Gaw, Kathryn (January 29, 2016), "Trump Temptations: The Billionaire & The Bellboy - Donald Trump wins new fans as erotica novel climbs Amazon's bestseller charts", City A.M., archived from the original on March 16, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  38. ↑ Bukszpan, Daniel (May 26, 2016), "Make Your Coffee Table Great Again. Here's All of the Books Coming Out About Trump", Fortune, archived from the original on August 3, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  39. 1 2 3 4 Whigham, Nick (May 25, 2016), "Erotic novella about Donald Trump to be made into a film", News.com.au, archived from the original on July 5, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  40. 1 2 3 Sankin, Aaron (May 24, 2016), "A best-selling erotic novel about Donald Trump is being made into full-blown porn", The Daily Dot, archived from the original on July 5, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  41. 1 2 3 4 Soldani, Bianca (May 25, 2016), "Brace yourselves, Donald Trump erotic fiction is being turned into a porno", SBS, retrieved July 18, 2017
  42. ↑ Headspeath, Andrew (May 25, 2016), "A Donald Trump gay porn parody in the works", Attitude, archived from the original on September 1, 2016, retrieved July 18, 2017
  43. 1 2 3 Grannum, Patricia (March 4, 2017), "Halsey claps back at YouTuber for 'Bingbong' parody video, mocking her fans", Inquisitr, archived from the original on July 29, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  44. ↑ "Viral Trump Erotica Author Sells two TV Shows", The Pride LA, January 26, 2016, retrieved July 18, 2017
  45. 1 2 Stevens, Jeff (October 12, 2016), "Does Donald Trump Have The Midas Touch?", Shockya, archived from the original on July 19, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  46. 1 2 "Comedy Duo Who Got Arrested Throwing Sex Toy at Trump Get Live Show on FOTV", MarketWired, October 11, 2016, archived from the original on October 15, 2016, retrieved July 18, 2017
  47. ↑ Moye, David (2017-08-30). "Mayor Of Hell, Inspired By Trump, Declares Heterosexuality Illegal". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-08-31.
  48. ↑ "Comedian Becomes 'Mayor' Of Hell, Michigan; Bans Heterosexuals From Entering Town". Retrieved 2017-08-31.
  49. ↑ Moye, David (2017-09-18). "Former Mayor Of Hell Rewrites Bible To Make It Really, Really Gay". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  50. 1 2 3 Tongco, Tricia (June 14, 2016), "Elijah Daniel's Powerful Response to the Orlando Attack", ATTN:, archived from the original on August 4, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  51. ↑ Daniel, Elijah (June 13, 2016), "An open letter to the LGBT kids who feel lost and scared", Fusion.net, retrieved July 18, 2017
  52. 1 2 Gladwell, Hattie (July 20, 2016), "Man handles receiving homophobic death threats incredibly calmly", Metro News, archived from the original on August 4, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  53. 1 2 MacDonald, Alec (July 20, 2016), "Guy Had Best Response To Man Sending Him Homophobic Death Threats", Elite Daily, retrieved July 18, 2017
  54. ↑ "Christine Sydelko and Elijah Daniel Shorty Awards Winner Interview", Shorty Awards (video), YouTube, April 26, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
  55. ↑ "LIL PHAG". Spotify. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  56. ↑ Gosling, Ryan (2014), Lost River, Warner Bros.
  57. ↑ D.K., Krishna; Nidimoru, Raj (2014), Happy Ending, Eros International
  58. ↑ Halewood, S.A. (2017), Division 19, Gas Station 8
  59. ↑ Hemingway, Anthony (October 6, 2013), "Season 1, Episode 9: Ann Arbor", Low Winter Sun
  60. ↑ Davidson, Adam (September 29, 2013), "Season 1, Episode 8: Revelations", Low Winter Sun, AMC
  61. ↑ Reiner, Jeffrey (January 16, 2015), "Pilot episode", 12 Monkeys, Syfy
  62. ↑ Sewell, Justin (May 29, 2016), "Episode #1.16", DSN: Drunk Shopping Network, Funny Or Die
  63. ↑ Farrell, Mark (October 19, 2016), "Hillary vs. Trump Dodgeball", Givit Wednesday
  64. ↑ Abramson, Lew (July 27, 2016), "Puppies & Tattoos - Marlon Wayans/Alison Eastwood", Givit Wednesday
  65. ↑ Won-ki, Hong (2013), Badman, B.A.P
  66. ↑ Harlock, Tom (2017), Bing Bong: Official Video, Closer by the Chainsmokers & Halsey Parody, Elijah Daniel & Christine Sydelko, YouTube
  67. ↑ KhalidVEVO (2017-08-01), Khalid - Young Dumb & Broke (Official Video), retrieved 2017-08-09

Further reading

  • "From the 9th Annual Shorty Awards - Elijah Daniel & Christine Sydelko - Winner in Comedy", 9th Annual Shorty Awards, Shorty Awards, April 23, 2017, archived from the original on June 6, 2017, retrieved July 18, 2017
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