HBO’s ‘Neighbors’ Nudist Danny on Feeling Betrayed by Amanda, His OnlyFans Explosion and Going Full Frontal in This Year’s Most Insane TV Episode
There are a lot of memorable characters in the HBO reality series “Neighbors,” a wonderfully absurd, bleak and hilarious encapsulation of America seen through the eyes of people at war with those living next door.
And then there’s 72-year-old Danny Smiechowski, who arrives in the Season 1 finale wearing nothing but a yellow thong bikini, bringing the show to new, unforgettable heights.
Directed by Harrison Fishman and Dylan Redford, “Neighbors” mostly tracks disputes over fences and property lines. But Smiechowski’s issue with his neighbors is his attire. He’s become the pariah of his San Diego block because he prefers to exercise on his driveway wearing nothing but that thong.
“The issue is showing five inches of skin,” Smiechowski tells Variety. (He’s referring to his exposed upper thighs.) “If I was a woman dressing like this, I’d be a hero. I’d probably get a multi-million dollar television contract. But I’m a man. So they cast aspersions upon me, and they tear me down.”
A few years ago, Smiechowski responded to an ad that asked, “Are you dealing with an ongoing neighbor dispute? Do you want to be in a new documentary TV series?” Soon, a film crew arrived at his front door and filmed his life for two months.
Fishman and Redford ended up following Smiechowski to a nudist colony in Florida called Eden, where he takes off his thong and remains fully nude for the majority of the episode. Smiechowski immediately makes friends with the other nudists at Eden, and, while attending a naked karaoke night, he meets a college student named Amanda Kent and memorizes her phone number. He takes her on a date and buys her red stilettos; in a cutaway interview she admits that she is looking for a sugar daddy to buy her nice things and help launch her music career.
When things inevitably fall out with Kent, Smiechowski returns to his life in San Diego, where he continues to exercise and upload pornographic content to OnlyFans. In an unfiltered interview over the phone — Variety found Smiechowski’s mobile number on his Instagram account — he says he still has issues with many of his neighbors.
I had a great day. I had drama class. I’m learning about acting, and the young people are helping me. I think I’m doing pretty damn good. I might have a natural ability — they tell me I do, but who knows? And now I’m just working on my house. I’m trying to improve the property and get a new kitchen, because I met all these young women. They’re real sweet girls, and many want to come over. But I can’t have them come over with a bad kitchen.
No. I’ve had probably three million people, no exaggeration, contact me after the final episode of “Neighbors” on HBO. I treat all of them equally. I respond to everyone. In fact, I was up for three days straight because I have to respond to everybody. It’s just in my nature.
Yeah, quite a few people want to come meet me. The other day, the cars were lined up down the street. You know, young people are refreshing to me. Men and women in their 20s, they don’t have any issue with what I did. The people my age, the baby boomers, they judge me. People don’t find the truth. They go, Well, he’s naked, so he’s bad. That’s not right. There are a lot of naked people that are good people. Look at Adam and Eve. They’re in the Bible, for the love of God.
In a way, I do. I actually do, because I’m a student of religion and history and human nature. I get many of my ideas from French literature. I should tell you, in the 1940s and even 1950s, men and women were more sexually liberated. Look at President Kennedy. Look at how he dressed in South Florida; he wore tiny little — you know, what I wear. The people today, they don’t know history. Pink was a predominant color for men before World War II. Baby boys were wrapped in pink. They would never dream of putting blue on men.
Oh, a million people like that.
A friend of mine in Borrego Springs watched the episode, contacted me and showered accolades upon me. She told me she’s proud of me, and she took pictures of me for my OnlyFans. Many people have come out of the woodwork and jumped on the bandwagon, which irritated me. They were mean to me, and then they saw me on HBO. People are like that. They’re weak. Very weak.
Yes.
The neighbor on my left, Tomás, he’s OK with me. To my right, the lady abused me horribly and then jumped on the bandwagon and acted like nothing happened. I don’t even talk to her; she can go get fucked. Most of the other neighbors I don’t even talk to. I presume they know that I defeated them by public opinion, because the comments I’m getting on the internet are running 100 to 1 in my favor.
Here’s the bottom line: I’m on my driveway wearing a thong bikini. I’m not walking down Main Street in San Diego. I’m not bothering anybody. I don’t want trouble. I’m pushing big gears on my Peloton bike that most men my age could never, ever, ever do. And yet, these people emotionally abuse me.
They’ve got this false notion that when you’re older, you’ve got to be playing bingo in the church or in a nursing home lying on a bedpan. That’s what they believe because society has conditioned them. It’s ageism. Let’s say you’re my age, and you’re healthy as a bull, and you’re not married and you like young women. I don’t even know, maybe you’re gay and you like young men. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care who the fuck people are. But it’s none of their business what I do on my driveway. I’m not even showing the back of my thong bikini because it’s pointed toward my garage.
That’s the $64,000 question. I had common sense, and I knew that if they asked me to jump, I would say, “How high?” I knew to get out of their way. They were lightyears ahead of me.
Come on. Trusted them? Of course I trusted them. That’s an illogical question.
I never felt uncomfortable. I never felt vulnerable. My only goal was to go before the nation and tell the people the truth of what I’m doing. And I did it to defeat my neighbors.
I don’t even know if I’m supposed to answer that, because I’m under protocol with HBO. Let’s put it this way: They took care of me. I don’t know all the rules.
OK.
At the premiere in Hollywood, there were 250 people there, and when those scenes came up I cringed in my seat. If I ever felt vulnerable, that was the only time. I embarrassed myself by naivety. I still get choked up talking about it.
I did. In fact, she contacted the film crew and said she wanted to go to L.A. to watch the premiere. I said if she would have shown up, I wouldn’t have been there.
Hell no. But she got her justice. I feel fully vindicated. I’m sure she watched the show and saw the part where I railed against her. She was a — well, I shouldn’t say this.
She’s a whore, essentially. She just wants money, money, money.
My OnlyFans has exploded by 20,000%. If you can mention it on your — whatever you’re doing. I don’t even know what you’re doing. I don’t even care what you’re doing. It doesn’t even matter to me what you’re doing. But just mention my OnlyFans and maybe I’ll get more people. I would encourage you to do it.
I would encourage you to put in my OnlyFans, if you can.
No problem.
I have. I learned from Amanda that I need to be very careful, but there’s one girl coming over. And she wants to be naked in my backyard. I met another girl who’s going to come over for French toast. You know, I’m a real old-fashioned guy, and I’ve never touched a woman inappropriately in my life. I swear to God, I have a perfect track record. Women think because of my nature, I’m not a good man. But men are like the three little pigs. You know the three little pigs?
All men are pigs. Some are good pigs, some are bad pigs and some are no pigs at all. The worst are the bad pigs, then the no pigs at all, and then the good pigs.
I’m a great pig. Most men are good pigs, I believe. But you do get bad pigs, and they’re really horrible to women. Then you got the guys who are no pigs at all, and those guys are asexual, so they’re not even —well they are a part of the equation, but there aren’t many of them.
They’re part of the pig family.
Oh, sure. It was wonderful talking to you.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
And then there’s 72-year-old Danny Smiechowski, who arrives in the Season 1 finale wearing nothing but a yellow thong bikini, bringing the show to new, unforgettable heights.
Directed by Harrison Fishman and Dylan Redford, “Neighbors” mostly tracks disputes over fences and property lines. But Smiechowski’s issue with his neighbors is his attire. He’s become the pariah of his San Diego block because he prefers to exercise on his driveway wearing nothing but that thong.
“The issue is showing five inches of skin,” Smiechowski tells Variety. (He’s referring to his exposed upper thighs.) “If I was a woman dressing like this, I’d be a hero. I’d probably get a multi-million dollar television contract. But I’m a man. So they cast aspersions upon me, and they tear me down.”
A few years ago, Smiechowski responded to an ad that asked, “Are you dealing with an ongoing neighbor dispute? Do you want to be in a new documentary TV series?” Soon, a film crew arrived at his front door and filmed his life for two months.
Fishman and Redford ended up following Smiechowski to a nudist colony in Florida called Eden, where he takes off his thong and remains fully nude for the majority of the episode. Smiechowski immediately makes friends with the other nudists at Eden, and, while attending a naked karaoke night, he meets a college student named Amanda Kent and memorizes her phone number. He takes her on a date and buys her red stilettos; in a cutaway interview she admits that she is looking for a sugar daddy to buy her nice things and help launch her music career.
When things inevitably fall out with Kent, Smiechowski returns to his life in San Diego, where he continues to exercise and upload pornographic content to OnlyFans. In an unfiltered interview over the phone — Variety found Smiechowski’s mobile number on his Instagram account — he says he still has issues with many of his neighbors.
I had a great day. I had drama class. I’m learning about acting, and the young people are helping me. I think I’m doing pretty damn good. I might have a natural ability — they tell me I do, but who knows? And now I’m just working on my house. I’m trying to improve the property and get a new kitchen, because I met all these young women. They’re real sweet girls, and many want to come over. But I can’t have them come over with a bad kitchen.
No. I’ve had probably three million people, no exaggeration, contact me after the final episode of “Neighbors” on HBO. I treat all of them equally. I respond to everyone. In fact, I was up for three days straight because I have to respond to everybody. It’s just in my nature.
Yeah, quite a few people want to come meet me. The other day, the cars were lined up down the street. You know, young people are refreshing to me. Men and women in their 20s, they don’t have any issue with what I did. The people my age, the baby boomers, they judge me. People don’t find the truth. They go, Well, he’s naked, so he’s bad. That’s not right. There are a lot of naked people that are good people. Look at Adam and Eve. They’re in the Bible, for the love of God.
In a way, I do. I actually do, because I’m a student of religion and history and human nature. I get many of my ideas from French literature. I should tell you, in the 1940s and even 1950s, men and women were more sexually liberated. Look at President Kennedy. Look at how he dressed in South Florida; he wore tiny little — you know, what I wear. The people today, they don’t know history. Pink was a predominant color for men before World War II. Baby boys were wrapped in pink. They would never dream of putting blue on men.
Oh, a million people like that.
A friend of mine in Borrego Springs watched the episode, contacted me and showered accolades upon me. She told me she’s proud of me, and she took pictures of me for my OnlyFans. Many people have come out of the woodwork and jumped on the bandwagon, which irritated me. They were mean to me, and then they saw me on HBO. People are like that. They’re weak. Very weak.
Yes.
The neighbor on my left, Tomás, he’s OK with me. To my right, the lady abused me horribly and then jumped on the bandwagon and acted like nothing happened. I don’t even talk to her; she can go get fucked. Most of the other neighbors I don’t even talk to. I presume they know that I defeated them by public opinion, because the comments I’m getting on the internet are running 100 to 1 in my favor.
Here’s the bottom line: I’m on my driveway wearing a thong bikini. I’m not walking down Main Street in San Diego. I’m not bothering anybody. I don’t want trouble. I’m pushing big gears on my Peloton bike that most men my age could never, ever, ever do. And yet, these people emotionally abuse me.
They’ve got this false notion that when you’re older, you’ve got to be playing bingo in the church or in a nursing home lying on a bedpan. That’s what they believe because society has conditioned them. It’s ageism. Let’s say you’re my age, and you’re healthy as a bull, and you’re not married and you like young women. I don’t even know, maybe you’re gay and you like young men. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care who the fuck people are. But it’s none of their business what I do on my driveway. I’m not even showing the back of my thong bikini because it’s pointed toward my garage.
That’s the $64,000 question. I had common sense, and I knew that if they asked me to jump, I would say, “How high?” I knew to get out of their way. They were lightyears ahead of me.
Come on. Trusted them? Of course I trusted them. That’s an illogical question.
I never felt uncomfortable. I never felt vulnerable. My only goal was to go before the nation and tell the people the truth of what I’m doing. And I did it to defeat my neighbors.
I don’t even know if I’m supposed to answer that, because I’m under protocol with HBO. Let’s put it this way: They took care of me. I don’t know all the rules.
OK.
At the premiere in Hollywood, there were 250 people there, and when those scenes came up I cringed in my seat. If I ever felt vulnerable, that was the only time. I embarrassed myself by naivety. I still get choked up talking about it.
I did. In fact, she contacted the film crew and said she wanted to go to L.A. to watch the premiere. I said if she would have shown up, I wouldn’t have been there.
Hell no. But she got her justice. I feel fully vindicated. I’m sure she watched the show and saw the part where I railed against her. She was a — well, I shouldn’t say this.
She’s a whore, essentially. She just wants money, money, money.
My OnlyFans has exploded by 20,000%. If you can mention it on your — whatever you’re doing. I don’t even know what you’re doing. I don’t even care what you’re doing. It doesn’t even matter to me what you’re doing. But just mention my OnlyFans and maybe I’ll get more people. I would encourage you to do it.
I would encourage you to put in my OnlyFans, if you can.
No problem.
I have. I learned from Amanda that I need to be very careful, but there’s one girl coming over. And she wants to be naked in my backyard. I met another girl who’s going to come over for French toast. You know, I’m a real old-fashioned guy, and I’ve never touched a woman inappropriately in my life. I swear to God, I have a perfect track record. Women think because of my nature, I’m not a good man. But men are like the three little pigs. You know the three little pigs?
All men are pigs. Some are good pigs, some are bad pigs and some are no pigs at all. The worst are the bad pigs, then the no pigs at all, and then the good pigs.
I’m a great pig. Most men are good pigs, I believe. But you do get bad pigs, and they’re really horrible to women. Then you got the guys who are no pigs at all, and those guys are asexual, so they’re not even —well they are a part of the equation, but there aren’t many of them.
They’re part of the pig family.
Oh, sure. It was wonderful talking to you.
This interview has been edited and condensed.