Darren “IShowSpeed” Watkins Jr. is extremely popular among a rather young audience on YouTube at the age of 19. He regularly attracts attention with questionable actions and scandals – he was even banned from Twitch for a while because of it. Now he is showing a particularly daring stunt.
Who is the YouTuber? The 19-year-old IShowSpeed seems to be stumbling from one scandal to another, but his hyperactive personality makes him extremely successful on YouTube. He made headlines by barking at small children.
However, the YouTuber has also been involved in more serious controversies, such as a sexist outburst in the shooter Valorant or trying to con his fans with a fake Ronaldo into buying a cryptocurrency. Now he has pulled off a special stunt.
Video shows how IShowSpeed jumps over an approaching car
What kind of stunt was that? On July 25, 2024, IShowSpeed posted a video in which he apparently jumps over his approaching Lamborghini from a standstill, which is designed entirely in the style of his great idol Cristiano Ronaldo.
For many viewers in this country, memories of Samuel Koch are likely to be awakened, who had an accident as a candidate on the well-known show “Wetten, dass..?” in 2010 when he jumped over an approaching car. It is also striking that in both cases, the father of the jumper was at the wheel. Koch has been paralyzed from the neck down since the fall.
After the accident, the show was discontinued, and in the following episode of “Wetten, dass..?” host Thomas Gottschalk announced that the current season would be his last. Although he is still active on television and radio, there have not been any major shows after “Wetten, dass..?”.
However, IShowSpeed emerged from the action unscathed. You can watch the video here:
Is it all just fake?
What are the reactions like? On X, formerly Twitter, the reactions to the stunt can essentially be divided into three camps:
- Some people emphasize how dangerous the action is and even fear that it could encourage young people to imitate it.
- Others show themselves – apparently unwillingly in some cases – impressed by the athletic performance of the 19-year-old.
- And then there are viewers who think the video is edited and the stunt is fake.
This uncertainty about how much is real and what is staged accompanies many actions of IShowSpeed: For instance, when he was seemingly actually arrested after a supposed fake call to the police or “accidentally” bought a digital hat and completely freaked out.
IShowSpeed insists that the jump was real and even adds more: On his alternative X account, he claims that he did the stunt three times because the camera drone did not record the first two attempts.
The video editor of the YouTuber swears “on his whole life” that the action really took place and provides two additional clips with different perspectives:
The accident at “Wetten, dass..?” led to a discussion about a connection between increasing risk-taking and viewing figures (via Süddeutsche Zeitung). This connection seems to have been recognized by IShowSpeed as well, as his video on X has been viewed 45 million times – that is significantly more than his other posts.
With actions like these, the 19-year-old is extremely popular with his rather young target audience. How intense the hype around him is, he recently experienced firsthand in Norway: YouTuber IShowSpeed excites young fans so much that they swarm over him – He flees in panic
