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.
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.
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.
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.