Controversial YouTube streamer Darren “IShowSpeed” Wattkins (17) is involved in the next scandal. He made a $100 bet with a six-year-old boy on who would win a duel in Fortnite. When the boy lost and could not pay, the situation escalated. IShowspeed barked at the boy at the top of its lungs for 35 seconds. The boy whimpered and cried. The streamer believes he taught the boy a valuable life lesson. Critics see this with horror.
Who is the streamer?
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IShowspeed bets 6-year-old $100 on who will win a 1v1 in Fortnite
This is the latest incident IShowspeed caught up during a live stream on YouTube on 7/29. accepted a $100 cash bet with a boy in Fortnite. The boy sounded childish, but apparently IShowspeed didn’t realize how young his opponent really was for a long time.
Such money bets in Fortnite are expressly not desired by the operator Epic and action is taken against them. But among young Fortnite creators, the money bet, the “wager”, is popular to add extra excitement to duels.
When Ishowspeed won the duel, he quickly realized that the boy couldn’t pay. The streamer seemed pissed off and digged deeper. The boy then explained that he had to ask Mom and Dad if they would give him the money.
The streamer slowly asked skeptically how old the boy was, but seemed shocked when it turned out that the boy is only 6 years old.
Others would have apologized and left the situation at that – but IShowSpeed is different.
The situation threatened to escalate:
For 35 seconds, the streamer barks at the completely distraught boy
This is how it escalated: When the situation seemed to be resolved, IShowspeed started barking like a dog for 35 seconds while the boy was audibly shaken, whimpering and not getting it.
IShowspeed not only barked, but seemed to want to completely imitate a dog, distorted his face, stuck his face into the camera and sounded really scary and angry.
At the end, the streamer yelled, “Teach your kids what’s right and what’s wrong!”
Streamer apparently thinks he taught the boy a ‘life lesson’
Here’s how IShowspeed sees it: After the action, he simply continued and apparently saw it as a brilliant educational achievement to have made the boy cry.
He told his viewers with a smile:
“I’m not going to put the police on him. Of course not: He is 6 years old. When you have a 6 year old brother and he does something wrong? are you going to let him get away with this? No! What I did to the boy he will never forget for the rest of his life. He’ll grow up and be a super guy. I taught him what is right and what is wrong.”
3.5 million people watch the live stream with the crying boy
How do others see it? Others who aren’t his fans watch in disbelief and horror as IShowspeed interacts with the boy:
But there are also some who protect IShowSpeed and see the misconduct of the boy’s parents: A 6-year-old has no business in Fortnite.
There’s been a fair bit of misconduct among streamers, but IShowSpeed is a brand in itself:
The 5 biggest Twitch bans that caused quite a stir
This is the controversy: IShowspeed is always embroiled in controversy. He apologizes for his behavior with his “very young age” and vows to get better.
His fans, who defend him, say: He is only criticized so often and violently because he is black – racism clearly plays a part in the criticism. The e-sports journalist Jake Lucky probably wanted to “specifically cancel” the streamer, which is why he reports so often about the young man’s misconduct. Lucky is now openly attacked by fans of the streamer on Twitter.
The fact that IShowspeed is so often the focus of the media and criticism is probably due to the fact that it has such an enormous reach: the video alone in which he yells at the boy has meanwhile been seen by 3.5 million people.
Hopefully no one takes the streamer’s behavior and his brilliant educational achievements as a role model.
The behavior of another 17-year-old in Fortnite is also discussed controversially:
17-Year-Old Fortnite Pro Gets Love Advice From Totally Wrong Man On Twitch