He has over 60 million followers on social media — but how did IShowSpeed get so popular? Here's the lowdown (VIDEO)

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — In the world of content creators and live streamers, IShowSpeed is an A-lister.

He has 30.5 million followers on TikTok, 30.2 million subscribers on Youtube, 24.3 million followers on Instagram, over two million followers on Twitter two million on Facebook, 343,000 on Twitch and 118,000 followers on Roblox.

The 19-year-old American Internet personality whose real name is Darren Watkins Jr from Cincinnati, Ohio is known for IRL (in real life) streaming where he broadcasts content or his activities live, be it attending events or just interacting with his followers.

He is known for his funny, controversial — more often than not both — content, a result of his dramatic reactions.

Here's a brief background and your crash course on who IShowSpeed is.

The beginning

• Darren Watkins Jr aka IShowSpeed began on Youtube in 2016 (which would make him 11-years-old), uploading content playing games such as Fortnite and NBA 2K.

• He began live streaming in 2019, which eventually took off for him in 2021 when he gained a million followers in just days.

• Interest in his content posted revolved around him playing and reacting violently which often resulted in memes further boosting his popularity.

The popularity of IShowSpeed

IShowSpeed's fame began skyrocketing in 2021 after clips of him started being uploaded on TikTok and making its viral rounds for his often-violent behavior during live streams which resulted in countless memes.

• Gaming website Kotaku described IShowSpeed as one of the biggest and fastest-rising streamers on YouTube.

• IShowSpeed's videos on the game Talking Ben the Dog made the mobile app the best-selling game on the App Store over a decade after its initial release.

• April 2021 —His YouTube channel reaches 100,000 subscribers, which quickly grew to a million subscribers in just two months in June 2021.

• December 2021— IShowSpeed participates in a Twitch e-dating livestream show hosted by streamer Adin Ross. The exchange between IShowSpeed and another participant, Ash Kash, escalates to what was widely interpreted as a rape threat.

• IShowSpeed was later banned from Twitch for “sexual coercion or intimidation”.

• April 2022 — A clip of IShowSpeed live-streaming playing Valorant surfaces where tells a female player to, “Get off the f*****g game and do your husband's dishes”, resulting in one of the game's producers, Sara Dadafshar, permanently banning IShowSpeed from Valorant and all other Riot Games titles.

• YouTube global head of gaming creators, Lester Chen got involved and IShowSpeed soon apologised for his behavior, acknowledged that it was “wrong”, claiming he had been receiving racist comments from other players that day.

• July 4 2022 —IShowSpeed almost burns down his bedroom after setting off a Pikachu firework inside his bedroom, attracting media attention. He hit 10 million subscribers on YouTube that month — along with a community guidelines strike as well as a one-week ban on YouTube after livestreaming his character in a sexually explicit Minecraft modified game. IShowSpeed confirma the strike and claimed he was quitting YouTube,but returned after his ban ended.

• August 2022 — He was swatted (where police or emergency service response teams are anonymously called to respond to a situation at a streamer's home address) while livestreaming on YouTube. Officers handcuff IShowSpeed, and his cameraman was forced to end the stream. He ended up in jail and was bailed out by Ross.

IShowSpeed today

IShowSpeed shifted towards football-related content by 2022.

• September 2022, IShowSpeed plays in the Sidemen Charity Football Match. Frustrated at English referee Mark Clattenburg for disallowing his offside goal, IShowSpeed whips him with his shirt, which results in him receiving a yellow card.

• November 2022, American rapper and singer Lil Nas X appears on IShowSpeed's' stream. In the same month, Sky Sports announced that they would stop featuring him on their platform after the emergence of past misogynist and derogatory comments made by IShowSpeed. The platform also removed all content featuring him.

• December 2022 — IShowSpeed wins at the 12th Streamy Award for Breakout Streamer category. He spends two months visiting various football stadiums to try and watch Cristiano Ronaldo play live — including traveling to Old Trafford, Craven Cottage, various other stadiums in Qatar, though Ronaldo was on the bench during those games, up until Portugal's loss to Morocco.

• During the round of 16 match between Portugal and Switzerland that month, IShowSpeed earned criticism for his behavior toward a Chinese spectator of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which was interpreted by many as racist which he ater apologised for on Twitter after the clip went viral.

• January 2023 — IShowSpeed faces significant backlash after revealing he was behind Thumb Media Affiliate and Cardigan, two copyright companies that had either been claiming ad revenue or striking videos from channels that had been using clips from his streams.

• May 2023 — He signs on an exclusive streaming deal with the video-sharing platform Rumble, in collaboration with fellow streamer Kai Cenat. He finally gets to meet Cristiano Ronaldo in the carpark of Estádio da Luz in Lisbon after Portugal's 3-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

• August 2023 — Hits 20 million subscribers on his YouTube. In the same month, IShowSpeed accidentally flashes his penis after jumping up from his seat due to being jumpscared while playing Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach to a live audience of 25,000 people. He escapes a strike his channel or ban due to the accidental nature of the incident.

• October 2023 —IShowSpeed meets and collaborates with Indian singer Daler Mehndi during his visit to India. In the same month, Twitch unbans IShowSpeed after nearly two years.

• May 2024 —IShowSpeed attends the annual Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake in Gloucestershire, England, and suffers a leg injury, which he claims required hospitalisation.

• June — Hits 25 million subscribers on his YouTube account in a 15-minute-long livestream. Meets Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama during his live stream in Albania.

• July 3 2024 — IShowSpeed visits Norway, ends up trapped in a souvenir shop due to a large crowd. Jumps from second-story window, injuring himself and was escorted out by one of his bodyguards, as the crowd mobbed him. Norwegian Police Service refuse to assist him until he ended his stream. He vows never to return, but does later that month.

• August 3 2024 — IShowSpeed performes a live-streamed stunt where he jumped over two speeding luxury cars—a Lamborghini and a McLaren—in Miami, to prove his athleticism and silence skeptics who had previously doubted the authenticity of his car jump videos. The stream was then deleted on August 5, 2024 due to the stream itself violating YouTube's Terms of Service but restored a few days later.

Streaming aside...

IShowSpeed has pursued a recording career and appeared in the WWE while stretching himself for charity work.

• He released his first single Dooty Booty in August 2021 which became popular on Youtube and TikTok.

• Follows it with Shake sampling Ready or Not by Fugees and Hit The Road Jack by Ray Charles. The music video has amassed over 213 million views on Youtube.

• Has also released Ronaldo (Sewey), a tribute to Ronaldo, World Cup under Warner Records for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

• IShowSpeed 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.

• March 2024 — IShowSpeed releases four new songs for his new EP, Trip 2 Brazil.

• IShowSpeed appeared on Night 2 of WWE's WrestleMania XL in April 2024 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. IShowSpeed would later appear on 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.

• When it comes to charity work, the teenager has donated US$50,000 (RM213,000) to victims of the Turkey–Syria earthquakes in February 2023, helped raise over £50,000 (RM279,000) for the Anthony Walker Foundation in December 2023 in a charity boxing match with influencer KSI after a year-long banter rivalry.