ISHOWSPEED sent the internet into meltdown after a viral clip appeared to show him being handcuffed by police in North Carolina.
Fans feared the YouTuber had been taken into custody mid-tour — but the story isn’t what it initially seemed.
AFPNorth Carolina is where a lot of creator activity takes place[/caption]
Here’s what actually happened, why “Florida speeding ticket” suddenly started trending, and how MrBeast ended up in the middle of it.
Why was iShowSpeed ‘arrested’?
The short answer: he wasn’t.
The North Carolina “arrest” was a staged prank, masterminded by MrBeast.
In the clip that circulated on social platforms, officers confront Darren “iShowSpeed” Watkins Jr. and inform him that there’s an issue tied to an alleged unpaid speeding ticket in Florida.
That detail — a believable, everyday admin problem — is exactly what made the scene feel real enough to fool millions.
The longer version is that Speed was in North Carolina as part of his US tour when the prank unfolded.
MrBeast (real name Jimmy Donaldson) had arranged for the stunt to look convincing on camera, complete with officers, a plausible backstory and plenty of tension.
It worked. For a few frantic hours, the internet was convinced Speed had genuinely been arrested.
Then came the reveal: it was a carefully set-up gag, not a real arrest, and Speed was never in legal jeopardy.
Was the “arrest” real at any point?
No. There was no actual booking, no actual charge, and no actual custody.
The entire sequence — from the approach by officers to the handcuffs and the Florida traffic line — was designed to appear authentic for viewers.
Once the prank was sprung, Speed was free to go, and the only lasting result was a sprawling online frenzy.
What did fans actually see?
If you watched one of the viral cuts, you likely saw three key beats:
Officers engage Speed and raise an issue about an alleged unpaid speeding ticket originating in Florida.
Speed looks rattled, protests and is briefly cuffed, which ramps up the drama.
The feed cuts or moves — and then, later, the explanation arrives: it’s a prank.
That middle section is what sent timelines into overdrive.
With creators, viewers are primed to expect chaos — but the handcuffs and a specific legal pretext crossed into territory that felt serious.
That was the point, and also why the reveal needed to follow quickly.
So this was a collab with MrBeast?
Yes. This was a MrBeast production — a “fake arrest prank” designed to dupe both Speed and the audience.
MrBeast’s team specialises in elaborate, highly shareable set-pieces.
Pranks like this live or die on planning and presentation, and this one had both.
From what’s been shared, Speed was the mark, not a co-conspirator.
His initial reaction reads as genuinely shocked — exactly the reaction a stunt like this needs to sell the moment.
Only after the cameras had what they needed did the prank get unmasked.
What happened next?
Once viewers learned the “arrest” was fake, attention turned to the craft of the prank and the sheer scale of the reaction it generated.
Speed wasn’t charged, wasn’t held and continued with his North Carolina stop as planned.
The clip continued to gather views, and the MrBeast–Speed crossover did exactly what crossovers do in creatorland: it drove new eyeballs in both directions.
GettyMrBeast (real name Jimmy Donaldson) had arranged for the stunt to look convincing on camera[/caption]
In the end, the North Carolina “arrest” will sit neatly in Speed’s long reel of viral moments — the kind of headline-grabbing beat that keeps a tour hot and a fandom glued to the next episode.
And if you were one of the millions who thought he’d genuinely been hauled off mid-stream, don’t beat yourself up.
That’s the magic trick at the heart of creator entertainment in 2025: make it feel real, until it isn’t.
Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
