Darren Jason Watkins Jr. (born January 21, 2005), better known as IShowSpeed or simply Speed, is an American influencer and online streamer. Known for his dramatic and energetic behavior he displays during his variety live streams and in-real-life streams, he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers and internet personalities in the world.
Watkins was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Registering his YouTube channel in 2016, he first posted gaming content. Watkins started gaining attention in 2021 due to his violent verbal and physical reactions when gaming. In 2022, he began shifting focus towards general entertainment, including soccer-related content, becoming an avid supporter of Cristiano Ronaldo, commonly revolving his content around his support for the player.
In 2024, Watkins began to tour the world by livestreaming in various worldwide locations. Many of these streams gained significant live viewership and resulted in international news coverage, leading some to praise him and view him as a cultural ambassador as he showed a more authentic side of countries, such as their cultures and inventions, to both domestic and international audiences.
Watkins has also pursued a rapping career. He signed with Warner Records to release his 2022 single "World Cup", which charted in several countries. He followed it up with the 2026 single "Champions", which was featured on the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Album and performed by himself at the tournament's closing ceremony. He was named Breakout Streamer of the Year at the 12th Streamy Awards in 2022, and twice won Streamer of the Year at the 2024 Streamer Awards and 2025 Streamer Awards.
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Early life
Darren Jason Watkins Jr. was born on January 21, 2005, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father, Darren Watkins Sr., as well as two younger siblings, including a half-brother named Dian (also known as Jamal), also broadcast on YouTube. Through his paternal lineage, he is the great-grandson of Harold Watkins, who became the first African-American fire chief of the Detroit Fire Department in 1988. His mother, Tiffany Elizabeth Graves, was the primary caregiver for Watkins during his early years, following her divorce from his father when Watkins was young.
Watkins was raised in the Bond Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati. He attended Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy for elementary school and subsequently enrolled at Purcell Marian High School. During his childhood, Watkins acquired the nickname "Speedy" due to his athleticism and habit of running from dogs. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a video clip of Watkins reacting aggressively to a video game was reposted by the media outlet WorldStarHipHop; the resulting negative comments caused a conflict between Watkins and his mother. Consequently, Watkins moved to Detroit, Michigan, to live with his father. There, he shared a bedroom with his uncle and began livestreaming full-time using a PlayStation 4 camera.
Internet career
2016–2021: Origins, early content, and platform bans
Watkins registered his YouTube channel "IShowSpeed" in 2016, though he initially uploaded gameplay clips only occasionally. He began consistent livestreaming in December 2017, broadcasting games such as NBA 2K and Fortnite. His early streams averaged a low viewership; by 2020, he averaged approximately ten concurrent viewers per broadcast.
His viewership increased significantly in 2021; his channel grew from 100,000 subscribers in April 2021 to 1 million in June 2021. This growth was supported by clips of his behavior during livestreams—often characterized by aggressive outbursts directed at games, players, and his camera—which circulated on TikTok as memes. Kotaku described Watkins as "one of the biggest and fastest-rising streamers" on YouTube during this period.
Watkins's conduct resulted in bans from multiple platforms. In December 2021, he participated in a Twitch "e-dating" livestream hosted by Adin Ross. During the broadcast, Watkins made comments to participant Ash Kash that Twitch moderation interpreted as a threat of sexual violence. Ross disconnected Watkins from the call; however, Watkins rejoined and directed further aggressive remarks at Kash. Twitch subsequently banned Watkins from the platform for "sexual coercion or intimidation". The platform reinstated his account nearly two years later, on October 10, 2023.
On December 29, 2021, during a four-hour-and-23-minute livestream titled "EARLY STREAM!", Watkins participated in a Fortnite match that spawned a viral internet meme. During the game, a teammate with the username "Acey Daddy" requested that Watkins help him win, stating, "Please, Speed, I need this! My mom is kind of homeless." Watkins responded visibly suppressing laughter while a third player, "Pew is daddy", scolded him for his reaction. The clip became a viral meme on platforms such as TikTok and X. Many other clips throughout the same stream would end up achieving a similar status over the next several years. The stream itself later attained a 10/10 rating on IMDb, briefly surpassing the Breaking Bad episode "Ozymandias" in user ratings.
On October 26, 2025, Watkins organized a reunion with the two players. During the stream, "Acey Daddy" confirmed that his mother's housing situation had improved. The player's mother appeared on the livestream and scolded Watkins for laughing at her situation in 2021.
2022–2023: Initial popularity
In April 2022, a clip of Watkins playing Valorant on a live stream surfaced online. In the video, he tells a female player: "Get off the fucking game and do your husband's dishes." This resulted in one of the game's producers, Sara Dadafshar, permanently banning Watkins from Valorant and all other Riot Games titles. YouTube's global head of gaming creators, Lester Chen, replied to the clip, stating he was "on it." Watkins subsequently apologized for his behavior, acknowledging that it was "wrong", and claimed that he had received racist comments from other players that day.
On July 4, 2022, during Independence Day, Watkins set off a Pikachu firework inside his bedroom, which filled the room with smoke and led to a response from the fire department. He reached 10 million subscribers on YouTube later that month. In late July 2022, Watkins received a community guidelines strike and a one-week ban on YouTube after livestreaming a sexual Minecraft mod named "Jenny's Mod" to 96,000 live viewers. The broadcast displayed explicit sexual activity involving his in-game character. Watkins initially censored the screen but later accidentally revealed the content.
On August 8, 2022, Watkins was swatted while livestreaming on YouTube. Officers handcuffed him, and his cameraman was forced to end the broadcast. He later claimed that he had been jailed and that Adin Ross had posted his bail, allowing him to return to streaming on August 11. In September 2022, Watkins participated in the Sidemen Charity Match. During the match, he became frustrated at referee Mark Clattenburg for disallowing a goal due to offside; Watkins whipped Clattenburg with the jersey he had removed during his celebration, receiving a yellow card.
In November 2022, Sky Sports announced that they would cease featuring Watkins on their platforms after past misogynistic and derogatory comments resurfaced. The broadcaster removed all content featuring him from their social media channels and website. On November 16, Watkins faced criticism for allegedly promoting a cryptocurrency scam known as a "pump and dump scheme" during a livestream for The Paradox Metaverse, an open-world game. The following day, he apologized, stating: "I made a mistake that I wish I never did but I'm not a scammer."
In December 2022, Watkins won the "Breakout Streamer" award at the 12th Streamy Awards. That same month, during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he generated controversy for his behavior toward a Chinese spectator in Qatar. During a livestream, he approached a man wearing an Argentina jersey; when the man indicated he did not speak English, Watkins repeatedly said "Konnichiwa" and uttered sounds reminiscent of Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese. Following backlash, he uploaded an apology video to Twitter.
2024–present: Travel content, streamer of the year and continued growth
On February 23, 2024, Watkins participated in "Match for Hope 2024", a soccer charity match hosted in Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Qatar, where he played for Team Chunkz. A clip of him went viral in which he slide tackled Brazilian former soccer player Kaká.
On May 29, 2024, 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. In June and July 2024, during the UEFA Euro 2024, Watkins toured Europe, reaching 25 million subscribers on June 2. 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, and would be hospitalized. Watkins's tour of Europe received over 2.5 billion views across multiple social media platforms.
On August 3, 2024, Watkins performed a live-streamed stunt where he jumped over two speeding supercars in Miami. The stream was then deleted on August 5 due to violating YouTube's Terms of Service. While on tour in Southeast Asia, he surpassed 30 million subscribers and accumulated a total of 110 million views for the duration of the trip. One of Watkins's livestreams, titled "IRL Stream in Indonesia", marked the first time an English-speaking streamer had received one million concurrent viewers in a livestream.
In November 2024, Watkins lost an exhibition 50-meter race against 2024 Summer Olympics men's 100 meters gold medalist Noah Lyles. The competition was refereed and organized by MrBeast. On November 22, Watkins began his tour of Australia and New Zealand. On November 26, it was announced that Watkins would become the president of the U.S. version of Baller League, a six-a-side soccer league. Later that month, he was ranked first by Complex Networks in its list of "The 25 Best Streamers Right Now".
In December 2024, 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 2024 Streamer Awards. Later that month he won the "Most Influential Soccer Creator" award of the Goal Champions Awards.
Other ventures
Music career
In August 2021, Watkins released his first single, "Dooty Booty", on his YouTube channel. Following its upload, the song quickly became popular on YouTube and other social media sites, such as TikTok. In November, Watkins released a single titled "Shake", which sampled both "Ready or Not" by the Fugees and "Hit The Road Jack" by Ray Charles. The song's accompanying music video received over 211 million views on YouTube.
In June 2022, he released a song called "Ronaldo (Sewey)", following his newfound admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo. In November 2022, he released a single titled "World Cup" under Warner Records in honor of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. On July 7, 2023, Watkins was a surprise guest at the 2023 Rolling Loud festival in Portugal and performed "Shake", "World Cup" and "Portuginies" with the support of American rapper Ski Mask the Slump God and producer DJ Scheme.
In March 2024, Watkins released his first extended play, Trip 2 Brazil.
In June 2026, his song "World Cup (Champions)" was included in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Album. Watkins later performed the song at the closing ceremony of the 2026 FIFA World Cup final.
Professional wrestling
In April 2024, Watkins accompanied Logan Paul during his United States Championship defense on night 2 of WWE's event WrestleMania XL. Initially disguised as a Prime mascot, he unmasked at ringside during the match before Randy Orton put him through one of the broadcast tables with an RKO. Later that month, Watkins announced the second-round picks for the Raw brand during the 2024 WWE Draft on Monday Night Raw. He entered the 2025 men's Royal Rumble match, where he and Bron Breakker eliminated Otis, but was speared by Breakker and eliminated shortly after. In a November episode of his web series Speed Goes Pro, Watkins was documented training with various WWE wrestlers at the Performance Center.
In March and April 2026, he made several appearances on Raw, becoming involved in an on-screen storyline where he aligned with The Vision (Logan Paul and Austin Theory) against The Usos and LA Knight, culminating in a six-man tag team match at WrestleMania 42, where his team lost. Following the match, Paul attacked Watkins, after which Watkins performed a top-rope splash onto Paul through a broadcast table with assistance from Knight and The Usos.
Personal beliefs
Political
Watkins is a supporter of Palestine, has expressed opposition to Israel, and regularly shouts "Free Palestine!" on his livestreams. In June 2024, he donated $50,000 to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.
Religious
Watkins has been raised in a Christian household and has often shown great respect and spoken positively about Islam, however he has not publicly declared his religion.
During a visit in Qatar, Watkins was praising Allah by doing the salat, he has also been seen praying in Abu Dhabi.