A successful Hooters location that gained a following through its social media videos will be closing soon — which means the people behind the posts are preparing for one last Super Bowl Sunday.

When news broke that the Hooters in Boca Raton, Florida, was closing at the end of February because of the landlord’s decision not to renew the lease, longtime customers and employees were surprised, general manager Chris Torelli told Fox News Digital.

In a tough restaurant economy, closures can be a sign of decline. But this Hooters location built a cult following through TikTok dances, parody skits and viral videos.

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“We are a healthy, successful location, and in this economy, the places that close are the opposite,” Torelli said.

Over the years, the Boca Raton location distinguished itself by leaning heavily into social media. What started as a simple marketing experiment, Torelli said, evolved into one of the most recognizable Hooters social media accounts in the country.

The videos — often featuring choreographed dances, playful jabs at local sports teams or scripted phone-call skits — resonated far beyond Boca Raton. Torelli said early viral success helped confirm the strategy.

“You get one or two that go viral, then you start seeing the comments and the interaction with the consumers,” he said.

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But the success wasn’t just about algorithms or follower counts. The goal “has always been to make it fun.”

“It’s not a business,” Torelli said. “I mean, we are a business — but Instagram, for us, is fun.”

Much of that fun came from the women who appeared in the videos. Hooters waitresses Amanda Hall and Sarah Glynn became familiar faces online, dancing, joking and often poking fun at themselves.

The social media presence helped turn the Hooters girls into “local celebrities,” Torelli said, as recognition followed them outside the restaurant.

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It’s something former employee Abigail Fuqua still experiences more than a year after leaving the Boca Raton location. She said she’s still recognized from posts still circulating online.

“As soon as you open that door up, and you immerse yourself into it, you just have fun,” Fuqua said of participating in the videos.

The social media success has also become a reliable job-recruiting resource, Torelli said.

“We’ve stumbled upon one of the best marketing tools to recruit future Hooters girls,” he said. He noted the “tremendous success [in] hiring staff” who wanted to work there because of the videos.

As the restaurant prepares to close its doors after 16 years, Hall and Glynn describe the workplace as more than just a job.

“These girls are my sisters now,” Glynn said.

“It kind of became more like a home and a family,” Hall added.

Still, there is optimism about the future. Torelli said the “plan all along” was to find a new home nearby. 

“We’re not done yet,” he said.

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For the employees, the future is less certain — but not without gratitude.

“Life is going to take you in different directions, but I had a great time while I was here,” Hall said.

Glynn joked that the end of the Boca Raton location may mark the end of an era for her.

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“It may be time to retire the orange shorts a little bit, because I don’t know how I can do any Hooters other than Boca,” she said.

“I had a great time while I was here.”

Even after the restaurant closes, its social media presence isn’t likely to fade, Torelli said.

“We owe it to our guests and our staff and the people in the community, because we do so much with them, to continue to do this,” he said.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the property management company for comment.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis celebrated how the Department of Justice reportedly decided to dismiss a complaint into the Hope Florida scandal that rocked the former presidential candidate and became a talking point for DeSantis critics.

The Floridian reported that President Donald Trump’s DOJ looked into the controversy in late 2025, but a source within the agency told the local outlet that there is “no predicate to open up an intake on this” and that “no further action is anticipated.”

“The witch hunt against the Hope Florida Foundation was orchestrated by left-wing media and their RINO allies,” DeSantis said in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital in response to the report. “As we’ve said from day one, all agency actions were appropriate and legally sound.

“The Hope Florida initiative continues to be the most successful conservative anti-poverty initiative of any state in the country.”

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The Justice Department has not publicly confirmed the complaint has been dropped. Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.

The controversy originated after Centene, a major health insurance company focused on government-sponsored programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, agreed to return $67 million to Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration to settle allegations it overbilled Medicaid. After the settlement was finalized in September 2024, $10 million of the recovered funds was directed to the Hope Florida Foundation.

The Hope Florida Foundation then distributed the $10 million as two $5 million grants to 501(c)(4) organizations, Save Our Society from Drugs and Secure Florida’s Future, Inc.

Of the funds distributed, $8.5 million ultimately flowed to Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee known for its efforts to defeat Florida Amendment 3, which would have legalized recreational marijuana through a constitutional change. Casey DeSantis, the governor’s wife, who has been floated as a potential candidate for governor, has consistently expressed opposition to the legalization of marijuana.

Critics argue that the funds that wound up at Keep Florida Clean, which existed due to a government settlement, should never have been funneled into a political action committee for political campaigning. 

The funds were originally unearthed by Florida state Republican Rep. Alex Andrade, who told Fox News Digital in June that DeSantis’ then-chief of staff turned attorney general, James Uthmeier, was the lead culprit of the movement of funds. 

Andrade noted at the time that he didn’t “see how Casey or [Ron] DeSantis are involved.”

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Trump’s DOJ reportedly dismissing the complaint is yet another example of the president breaking bread with a governor who was once a fierce opponent for the Oval Office. 

DeSantis’ relationship with Trump has evolved since the two faced off in what was thought to be a toss-up GOP primary election for the White House. DeSantis’ highly anticipated run was stopped short just before the New Hampshire primary, when the Florida governor said he didn’t see a path to victory. 

Rumors continue to swirl whether Casey DeSantis will enter the race for Florida governor in 2026, though Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., has already declared his candidacy and received an endorsement from Trump.

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June 12 is the filing deadline to run for governor in the Sunshine State should Casey DeSantis decide to enter the field.

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas delivered a profanity-laden retort to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, amid a tense redistricting fight, arguing that Democrats had “f—ing finished” what she views as gerrymandering started by Republicans.

On Friday, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, signed a bill that would allow voters to weigh in on multiple amendments, including one that would allow for a mid-decade redrawing of the state’s congressional districts. Virginia lawmakers are aiming to put the amendments before the people on April 21, 2026, months before the midterm federal elections.

“Virginia voters deserve the opportunity to respond to the nationwide attacks on our rights, freedoms, and elections. Everyone deserves the freedom to marry who they love — and Virginia’s Constitution should affirm that all families are welcome in our Commonwealth,” Spanberger said in a statement on her website.

“Women in Virginia deserve the freedom to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions without politicians dictating their choices. When Virginians have paid their debt to society, they deserve to regain their right to vote. And when other states take extreme measures, I trust Virginia voters to respond.”

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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, slammed the legislation, saying in a post on X it was “a brazen abuse of power [and] an insult to democracy.”

Lucas, the 82-year-old Democrat who spearheaded the plan, hit back at the senator, saying, “You all started it and we f—ing finished it,” referring to a controversial redistricting effort in Texas that sparked fights over districts in several states.

Several social media users slammed the Virginia lawmaker, including Braeden Sorbo, son of actor Kevin Sorbo, who asked, “So now gerrymandering is okay?” 

Many other responses spoke about the origins of gerrymandering as a practice, while some mocked Lucas for her use of profanity and her complaining about Texas’ redrawn maps.

Democrats hold six of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats, and the new 10-1 map would likely give them four more. This has prompted some Republicans to say that the map disenfranchises large numbers of voters in the commonwealth.

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Lucas had previously expressed a similar sentiment about the legislation during a news conference Thursday.

“If Donald Trump had not started this power grab … we wouldn’t be in this place right now,” Lucas said, according to The Washington Post. “He started this mess, and Virginia is going to finish it.”

Democrats across the country were left fuming after the U.S. Supreme Court moved to allow Texas to use redrawn congressional maps. Many were upset because the proposal appeared to stem from the White House after President Donald Trump proposed the idea of the mid-decade redrawing of maps in June 2025. 

The president is looking to fortify Republican control of the House, something he was unable to do in his first term when Democrats retook the House majority in 2018.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a vocal Trump critic, quickly jumped into the fight, with his state passing Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that will temporarily sidetrack the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and return the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated legislature. The move is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning districts in California, with the goal of offsetting the move made by Texas.

Several other states have also drawn new maps, including Missouri, North Carolina and Vice President JD Vance’s home state of Ohio.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser, Lindsay Kornick and Greg Wehner and Fox News’ Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report.