The rapid career of the 17-year-old YouTuber Darren “IShowSpeed” Watkins Jr. is filled with controversies. Nevertheless – or perhaps because of it – his success remains unbroken. Currently, he is facing criticism because his behavior towards a soccer fan is perceived as racist by many. However, the 17-year-old is unlikely to fear serious consequences. Even the biggest streamers on Twitch are supporting him.
What was the incident? Watkins is currently in Qatar to watch the World Cup and see his great idol Cristiano Ronaldo. During a stream in the stadium, however, there was an interaction with a soccer fan that many perceived as racist.
The fan is a young Asian man wearing an Argentina jersey. Watkins addresses him about the jersey, which the fan apparently does not quite understand.
Watkins then repeatedly and increasingly loudly uses the Japanese greeting “konnichiwa,” even though his conversation partner explains that he is actually Chinese. Eventually, Watkins babbles words that are supposed to sound like a Chinese language.
Clips of the interaction spread rapidly on Twitter and were critically discussed in thousands of comments. Many viewers classify Watkins’ behavior as racist. Additionally, more clips emerged showing the YouTuber speaking with Indian people and apparently trying to imitate their language (via Twitter).
Why is the interaction problematic? Both the presumed interchangeability of Southeast Asian languages and the mimicking of other languages are perceived as racist. The streamer Dimitri “Greekgodx” Antonatos experienced something similar when he was banned for sounds resembling Asian sounds.
This type of racism towards people of Asian descent is said to be normalized and accepted too lightly, explain some Twitter users (via Twitter). The streamer Kristofer Yee is of Chinese descent himself and writes:
I know he is still young and that people make mistakes. But I’m tired of racist jokes about Asians being “more okay” because we don’t confront them.
Kristofer Yee (via Twitter)
How did iShowSpeed react? Watkins released a video explaining his version of the incident. He actually thought the fan was Japanese, according to the YouTuber. When he realized the man was Chinese, he tried to repeat a nickname supposedly given to him by viewers in China.
Watkins also emphasizes that he did not mean his words to be racist and that he “loves other races.” He was just trying to speak other languages. However, if an Asian person felt offended, he would sincerely apologize (via Twitter).
Twitch streamers support controversial YouTuber
Who defends iShowSpeed? While Watkins’ behavior is critically discussed by many viewers and other influencers, two of the biggest Twitch streamers support him.
Together, they have a reach of nearly 15 million followers and an average of 120,000 viewers (via sullygnome).
“I know what it’s like to be labeled a racist”
The Franco-Canadian Félix “xQc” Lengyel is the most-watched English-speaking streamer on Twitch. In a stream, he expressed understanding for what his colleague is currently going through. After all, he has experienced something similar himself.
I know what it’s like to be labeled a racist due to things taken out of context. It’s incredibly uncool.
xQc
His own family had already considered him a racist because of an article, xQc explained. He had been the “homophobic, racist guy” after his comments made the front pages back in his hometown (via dexerto).
“Racists are angry because Black people are taking over”
Kai Cenat, who replaced xQc as the most-subscribed streamer on Twitch in September, reacted to a stream of the controversial YouTuber Destiny.
Destiny commented on the interaction between Watkins and the Chinese fan and said that there seems to be a wave of young Black streamers whose content consists of shouting at the camera (via twitter.com).
Kai Cenat saw Destiny’s recording and stated that while he did not know who the YouTuber was, it was clear that he was a racist. Kai Cenat added that if he were a racist himself, he would also be angry that Black content creators were so successful (via Twitch).
This 17-year-old [iShowSpeed] is currently better than Destiny in all categories, the streamer stated later in his stream.
What happens now? So far, Watkins has not faced any consequences from YouTube for his actions during the stream. It is also not expected that it will diminish his popularity. Currently, the YouTube channel iShowSpeed has 14 million subscribers.
xQc and Kai Cenat have recently faced criticism themselves. In November, they stated that they did not want to pay the moderators of their Twitch channels. After all, there are plenty of volunteers who would happily do this work unpaid. Viewers pointed out that streamers rely on their mods.
Two of the biggest streamers on Twitch rely on unpaid helpers – “Without mods, they would be banned”
