Darren Watkins Jr. (born January 21, 2005), better known by his online alias IShowSpeed (or simply Speed), is an American YouTuber, streamer, and internet personality. He is known for his variety livestreams in which he primarily plays video games including Roblox, Fortnite, and FIFA. Watkins is noted for his oftentimes shocking behavior on live streams which has helped him gain a strong following while also placing him at the center of numerous controversies.
In December 2021, Watkins took part in a Twitch "e-dating" livestream show, hosted by Adin Ross. In the stream, Watkins asked social media influencer Ash Kash whether she would reproduce with him if they were the only two people on Earth. When Kash said no, he aggressively asked her, "Who gonna stop me?," which was interpreted as a rape threat. Watkins was the second contestant to be eliminated, and shortly after the game had ended, he quickly rejoined the Discord call and started sexually harassing Kash, slurring her repeatedly. Watkins was kicked out of the call again, with Ross apologizing to Kash for his behavior. Watkins was later banned from Twitch.[1][2] According to a Twitter post by him, Watkins was banned for "sexual coercion or intimidation."[25][26]
In April 2022, an old clip of Watkins playing Valorant on a live stream surfaced. In the clip, he tells a female player to, "Get off the fucking game and do your husband's dishes."[8] This resulted in one of the game's producers, Sara Dadafshar, permanently banning Watkins from Valorant and all other Riot Games titles.[27][28] YouTube global head of gaming creators, Lester Chen, replied to the clip, saying he was "on it."[1] Watkins soon apologized for his behavior, acknowledged that it was "wrong", and explained that he had received racist comments from other players that day.[29]
In July 2022, Watkins received a community guidelines strike as well as a 1-week ban on YouTube after livestreaming his character being fellated in a mod named "Jenny's Mod" on Minecraft to over 90,000 of his viewers. Initially, he censored the screen as it was happening, but accidentally uncensored it, showing him expressing sexual activity. Watkins later confirmed the strike and expressed doubt that he would return to YouTube.[4][30]
In November 2022, 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.[31][32] Also in November 2022, Watkins' viewers accused him of promoting an alleged cryptocurrency scam during a promotional stream where he wore branded attire from a cryptocurrency-centered open-world video game.[33]
In December 2022, 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 top 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 language. When a clip of the live stream started circulating online, he uploaded an apology video to his Twitter account.[34]
