iShowSpeed draws massive crowd in Manila and BGC, forced to end stream

From being called the N-word to being stranded in a car dealership, the Filipinos’ warm welcome for the mega streamer may have just been too hot

YouTube mega streamer iShowSpeed has seen a meteoric rise to fame. After getting banned on Twitch for violating the streaming platform’s community guidelines, Darren Jason Watkins Jr. hopped aboard the YouTube streaming train and never looked back—hitting over 29 million subscribers as of writing.

With his massive fanbase in tow, support for his ongoing Southeast Asia tour has catapulted iShowSpeed to even greater heights. The internet sensation reached the 29 million subscriber milestone during his stop in Thailand—both of his streams in the country also amassed over 11 million views as of the moment.

Did we mention that was only his first stop on the tour?

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Yesterday, Sept. 11, iShowSpeed visited the Philippines in hopes of reaching out to his Filipino fans and also—like any tourist—experiencing the Filipino hospitality we’re known for. While he did gain over 100,000 subscribers in a mere three hours (a feat even he was in awe of), the latter was clearly lacking. From being called the N-word to being stranded in a car dealership, the warm welcome for iShowSpeed may have just been too hot.

Though the short stream may have had its moments—from having his ankles broken in a 1v1 basketball game in a barangay covered court to giving money to a homeless mother and her child, most of the three-hour stream had moments onlookers calling the Philippines an “L country” and fellow Filipinos hanging their heads in shame.

During iShowSpeed’s brief tour around the metro, the streamer was stopped twice by his horde of fans: once in a Chowking branch in Manila, and another in a Mercedes Benz dealership in BGC. The latter had gone so bad he had to cancel the rest of his plans for the night and cut the stream short to ensure his safety. “I can’t even walk bro. I can’t do sh*t. Ya’ll passed the limit,” said iShowSpeed while stuck in the car dealership.

Though, despite the ruined plans, the streamer did marvel at the crowd he amassed on the streets of BGC. He even took photos with them and welcomed several people inside the dealership to have solo photos and sign photographs.