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Darren Jason Watkins Jr. (born January 21, 2005), known online as IShowSpeed or Speed, is an American YouTuber and online streamer. He is known for his variety live streams that showcase dramatic and energetic behavior, as well as his IRL streams in worldwide locations.

Watkins registered his YouTube channel in 2016, where he began posting gaming content. He started gaining online attention in 2021 due to his ill-mannered personality and statements. An incident of sexual harassment resulted in him being banned from Twitch, after which he began streaming on YouTube full-time. In 2022, he began shifting focus towards soccer-related content, becoming an avid supporter of Cristiano Ronaldo, commonly revolving his content with support towards him.[2][3] This has led to appearances at the Sidemen Charity Match, as well as meeting prominent athletes, including Ronaldo in June 2023. Watkins was invited to the 2023 Ballon d'Or and 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremonies, both of which he livestreamed his attendance to.[citation needed]

Watkins has also pursued a recording career. He signed with Warner Records to release his 2022 single "World Cup", which charted in several countries. He was named Breakout Streamer of the Year at the 12th Streamy Awards in 2022,[4][5] and Streamer of the Year at the December 2024 Streamer Awards.[6][7]

Early life
Darren Jason Watkins Jr.[8] was born on January 21, 2005, in Cincinnati, Ohio.[9]

Watkins created his YouTube account in 2016, uploading gameplay videos occasionally.[10] Around December 2017, Watkins began livestreaming and uploading videos of games such as NBA 2K and occasionally Fortnite, averaging two viewers.[11]

Online career
2021
Watkins became prominent after his fanbase began posting clips on TikTok of his often-violent behavior during live streams towards games, players, and his camera, which gained popularity and became memes. His outbursts have resulted in bans from the streaming platform Twitch and the video game Valorant.[12] Kotaku described Watkins as "one of the biggest and fastest-rising streamers" on YouTube.[10] A game that had greatly contributed to his growth in popularity was Talking Ben.[13]

In April, Watkins's YouTube channel reached 100,000 subscribers. Two months later, his channel reached 1 million subscribers.[11]

In December, Watkins took part in a Twitch "e-dating" livestream show hosted by Adin Ross. The exchange between Watkins and another participant, Ash Kash, escalated to what was widely interpreted as a rape threat. Watkins was the first contestant to be eliminated, and shortly after the game had ended, he quickly rejoined the Discord call. He started sexually harassing Kash through offensive remarks. Watkins was then kicked out of the call, with Ross apologizing to Kash for his behavior. Watkins was later banned from Twitch for "sexual coercion or intimidation."[14] Watkins' Twitch account would not be unbanned until October 2023.[15]

2022
In April, a clip of Watkins playing Valorant on a live stream surfaced. In the clip, he tells a female player: "Get off the fucking game and do your husband's dishes."[12] This resulted in one of the game's producers, Sara Dadafshar, permanently banning Watkins from Valorant and all other Riot Games titles.[16][17] YouTube's global head of gaming creators, Lester Chen, replied to the clip, saying he was "on it."[10] Watkins soon apologized for his behavior, acknowledged that it was "wrong", and claimed that he was receiving racist comments from other players that day.[18]

On July 4, American Independence Day, Watkins set off a Pikachu firework inside his bedroom, almost burning it down, which attracted media attention.[19][20] He hit 10 million subscribers on YouTube during this month.[11] Later in July, Watkins received a community guidelines strike as well as a one-week ban on YouTube after livestreaming his character being fellated in a sexual Minecraft mod named "Jenny's Mod" to 96,000 live viewers as well as the options "Blowjob", "Sex", and "Strip" displayed on screen. He selected the "Blowjob" option. Initially, he censored the screen as it was happening, but he kept changing it from censored to uncensored. Eventually, he left the screen uncensored, and his character was seen expressing sexual activity. Watkins later confirmed the strike and claimed he wouldn't return to YouTube,[21][22] but he returned soon after his ban ended.

In August, he was swatted while livestreaming on YouTube. Officers handcuffed Watkins, and his cameraman was forced to end the stream.[23] Watkins claimed that he had been placed in jail and that Adin Ross had to bail him out, allowing him to return to streaming on August 11.[24]

In September, Watkins played in the Sidemen Charity Match.[25] A clip of him went viral in which he became frustrated at English referee Mark Clattenburg for disallowing his goal to be offside, and in response, Watkins proceeded to whip him with the shirt he removed while celebrating, which resulted in him receiving a yellow card.[26]

In November, Sky Sports announced that they would stop featuring him on their platform after the emergence of past misogynist and derogatory comments made by Watkins. The platform also removed all content featuring Watkins.[27][28] On November 16, he garnered controversy for allegedly doing a 'pump and dump scheme' cryptocurrency scam after he started a livestream promoting The Paradox Metaverse, an action-adventure game awarding players Paradox Coin.[29][30] The next day, he went live to address the controversy and apologized, saying "I do so much stuff for y'all, I made a mistake. I'm not that smart, I'ma be honest, I made a mistake that I wish I never did but I'm not a scammer."[31]

In December, he won the Streamy Award in the "Breakout Streamer" category during the 12th Streamy Awards.[32] That same month, during the round of 16 match between Portugal and Switzerland, Watkins garnered controversy for his behavior toward a Chinese spectator of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which was interpreted by many as racist. During a live stream, he approached a man wearing an Argentina jersey to question him. Visibly confused, the man specified that he did not speak English, which prompted Watkins to start repeatedly hurling "Konnichiwa", a Japanese greeting, and start uttering sounds reminiscent of Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese. When a clip of the live stream started circulating online, he uploaded an apology video to his Twitter account.[33]

2023
In May, Watkins announced he had signed an exclusive streaming deal with the video-sharing platform Rumble, in collaboration with Kai Cenat.[34] A month later, after many attempts, Watkins met Cristiano Ronaldo in the carpark of Estádio da Luz in Lisbon after Portugal's 3–0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.[35]

In August, he hit 20 million subscribers on his YouTube account.[36] On August 16, during a livestream, Watkins jumped up from his seat due to being jumpscared while playing Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach and accidentally flashed his penis to a live viewership of 25,000 people.[37] He subsequently ended and deleted the livestream. Viewers uploaded the clip of the incident onto social media, and the term "IShowMeat", in reference to the slang word meat, meaning penis, began trending on Reddit and X (Twitter).[38] YouTube declined to strike his channel or ban him from the platform due to the accidental nature of the incident.[39]

In December, Watkins fought KSI in a charity boxing sparring match after a year-long banter rivalry, raising money for the Anthony Walker Foundation.[40]

2024
On February 23, Watkins participated in Match for Hope, a soccer charity match hosted at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Qatar, where he played for Team Chunkz.[41] A clip of him went viral in which he slide tackled Brazilian former footballer Kaká.[42]

Watkins appeared on Night 2 of WWE's WrestleMania XL on April 7. He was dressed as a bottle of Prime for the WWE United States Championship match between champion Logan Paul, Kevin Owens, and Randy Orton, where he was kicked by Orton and RKOed onto the commentators' table.[43] Watkins would later appear on the April 29 episode of Raw to announce the Raw brand's second-round picks for Night 2 of the 2024 WWE Draft; Paul announced the second round picks for SmackDown.[44]

On May 29, Watkins attended the annual Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake in Gloucestershire, England, during which he suffered a leg injury, which he claimed required hospitalization.[45]

In June and July, during the UEFA Euro 2024, Watkins toured Europe, reaching 25 million subscribers on June 2.[46] On July 3, Watkins visited Norway, where he streamed in a souvenir store. While interacting with a large gathering of fans from a second story window, he injured his ankle. Upon being escorted out by a bodyguard, Watkins was attacked by the crowd,[47] and would be hospitalized.[48] Watkins' tour of Europe received over 2.5 billion views across multiple social media platforms.[49]

Duration: 8 seconds.0:08
Watkins walking through the streets of Chinatown, Singapore during his Southeast Asia tour in September 2024.
On August 3, Watkins performed a live-streamed stunt where he jumped over two speeding luxury cars in Miami. The stream was then deleted on August 5, due to violating YouTube's Terms of Service.[50][51][52] A few days later[when?], the live stream itself was restored with an age-restriction in place.[citation needed]

In September, Watkins toured Southeast Asia, visiting seven countries.[53] While on tour, he surpassed 30 million subscribers and accumulated a total of 110 million views for the duration of the trip. One of Watkins' livestreams, titled "IRL Stream in Indonesia", marked the first time an English-speaking streamer has received 1 million viewers in a livestream.[54][55][56]

In November, Watkins lost an exhibition 50 meter race against 2024 Summer Olympics men's 100 metres gold medalist Noah Lyles. The competition was refereed and organized by MrBeast.[57] On November 22, Watkins began his tour of Australia and New Zealand.[58] Later that month, he was ranked first by Complex Networks in its list of "The 25 Best Streamers Right Now".[59]

In December, Watkins was nominated for and won the "Get Off Your A** Award (Best IRL Streamer)", "Best International Streamer", and "Streamer of the Year" awards of the December 2024 Streamer Awards.[6][7] Later that month he won the "Most Influential Soccer Creator" award of the GOAL Champions Awards.[60]

ive been gone for a few weeks but Ill be more active now.

Rosalina