One viral Facebook post has led a Gainesville Police “hot cop” to be at the 61st Grammy Awards show in Los Angeles in early 2019 to interview celebrities on the red carpet.
He’ll then continue to do the same thing at the Oscars on Feb. 24, 2019.
SWAT Officer Daniel Rengering, 28, is better known as the GPD officer with the swooped back hair in a selfie posted on GPD’s official Facebook account that went viral in September. The original post was taken down Sept. 15 after one of the officers in the photo made a statement that was contrary to the views of GPD, said GPD spokesperson Officer Ben Tobias.
Before it was taken down, the post had 186,000 comments and a reach of 52,662,033 people, Tobias said.
Rengering said he will be reporting live from the Grammys for PopWrapped TV, he wrote in an email. The gig was set up by his manager Zachary Jaydon, who has previously been a voter for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the group that votes for the Grammy winners.
“I’m beyond floored, and really honored to be able to represent such an amazing organization,” Rengering said. “To stand on such an iconic red carpet and be able to candidly chat with so many incredible performers is both humbling and unreal.”
Rengering said he will also be a host at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 27, 2019 and will be a guest speaker at the 91st Annual Rudolph Valentino Memorial in August.
“I don’t know if I’m supposed to say anything yet, but I’m also doing the same thing for the Oscars the following week,” he said.
Rengering said he is still employed by GPD and plans to continue working there even while taking up work in entertainment.
“I will continue to bring 100 percent to whatever job I’m working on, whether it’s on the SWAT team, in a police car or on a red carpet,” Rengering said.
As for the rumors on his potential status on the next season of “Survivor,” he said he cannot comment at this time.
Danielle Jaffe, a 21-year-old UF nursing junior, said she recognized the GPD officer’s name as being one of the internet viral “hot cops.”
“It blows my mind the ways in which people can become famous nowadays,” Jaffe said. “It’s cool, though, to have someone from the same area as UF being on national television for an awards show.”
SWAT Officer Daniel Rengering, right, will report live from the Grammys for PopWrapped TV. Rengering said he will also be a host at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 27 and will be a guest speaker at the 91st Annual Rudolph Valentino Memorial in August.
