Druski isn’t being shy about where he believes his career is headed.

The 32-year-old comedian and content creator, whose real name is Drew Desbordes, declared himself part of the lineage of two of comedy’s biggest stars in a new TIME magazine profile.

“You’re looking at the modern-day Eddie Murphy or the modern-day Kevin Hart,” Druski told TIME.

The bold declaration comes as the Atlanta-area native continues a remarkable transition from posting short comedy videos online to becoming one of entertainment’s most recognizable personalities.

TIME’s Lucy Feldman profiles Druski as part of the 2026 TIME100 Next, tracing a career that began with social-media skits and has expanded into movies, television, live comedy, major advertising campaigns and an audience of more than 30 million followers across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

From Social-Media Skits to Hollywood

Druski’s rise was anything but conventional.

Nine years ago, he was posting videos online while trying to establish himself as a comedian. At one particularly low point, he even shared footage of his car being repossessed after he had dropped out of college.

Rather than waiting for Hollywood to discover him, Druski kept creating.

“There’s nobody out there looking for the next comedian,” he told TIME. “The new way of doing things is like: you got to just do it yourself.”

That strategy eventually paid off.

Drake was among the major stars who noticed Druski early, casting him in a music video alongside Kevin Durant, Odell Beckham Jr. and Marshawn Lynch. Corporate partnerships followed as brands recognized both Druski’s growing audience and his ability to connect with viewers.

He has since appeared in Super Bowl commercials for Dunkin’ and T-Mobile and collaborated with an impressive roster of celebrities, including Justin Bieber, Kevin Hart, Ben Affleck, Tom Brady, Jamie Foxx, Chris Rock, Timothée Chalamet, Snoop Dogg and Zoe Saldaña.

His ambitions now extend even further into Hollywood. Druski spent the summer in New York filming what TIME describes as his biggest movie role yet, appearing alongside Chris Pine and Emma Stone in the upcoming baseball romantic comedy The Catch, expected in 2027.

He also hosted the BET Awards this year and continues to pursue television and live comedy projects.

Turning Viral Characters Into Bigger Businesses

One of the most revealing parts of TIME’s profile is Druski’s approach to business.

For him, a viral video isn’t necessarily the finished product. It can be the beginning of something much larger.

Druski and his team consider whether characters introduced in individual videos could eventually support television shows or other projects. He told TIME that even during his earliest days making relatively simple videos, he was thinking about ways to maximize the opportunity.

“With anything I’m given, I want to make the most out of this situation that I have at hand,” he said.

His megachurch-pastor character demonstrates that strategy.

The character originated in a viral comedy video portraying a flashy, money-obsessed pastor. Druski later brought the character to the BET Awards, and it has now become the centerpiece of Collect & Praise, a television series filmed during the summer.

The project was initially intended for YouTube, following the model of Druski projects including Coulda Been Records and Coulda Been Love. Instead, TIME reports that Collect & Praise was picked up by Netflix.

Druski says he reinvests much of what he earns into improving the scale and production quality of his comedy.

“I’m such a fan of upgrading everything that I’m trying to achieve,” he told TIME. “Why can’t I take the money and try to recreate this in a bigger universe?”

Comedy Inspired by Real People

Druski also explained that many of his characters originate with people and behavior he observes in everyday life.

His comedy frequently exaggerates recognizable personalities—from clueless fraternity brothers to televangelists and sports fans—and that approach has sometimes generated controversy.

TIME highlights his “Ray Price” character, a football player who suffers a serious concussion before engaging in increasingly destructive behavior. Several professional athletes criticized the video as insensitive to people affected by chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

Druski defended the broader approach behind his comedy, saying he often tries to put a mirror in front of things already happening in society.

“Comedy comes from real-life things, and sometimes putting up that mirror, some people can get sensitive to the subject matter,” he told TIME.

Another viral sketch, “How Conservative Women in America Act,” has accumulated more than 100 million Instagram views, according to TIME. In it, Druski wears white makeup, a blonde wig and blue contact lenses while portraying a caricature who makes racist remarks and displays other exaggerated behaviors.

The appearance was widely interpreted as referencing Erika Kirk. TIME notes that Kirk later complained publicly about comedians using “whiteface,” without identifying Druski by name.

Druski, however, resisted giving his comedy a larger political label.

“I’m not no politician,” he told TIME. “I’m just a funny guy.”

A Childhood Dream Becoming Reality

Long before millions of people knew his name, Druski was fascinated with celebrity.

Growing up in Gwinnett County outside Atlanta, he would watch programs such as Entertainment Tonight and TMZ, paying close attention to celebrities being followed through the streets by photographers.

Comedy was also part of his family life. His mother introduced him to performers including Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell and Eddie Murphy, while Druski would perform for the family camera, telling jokes and rapping.

He eventually attended Georgia Southern University but dropped out and told his mother that he intended to become a comedian—with no backup plan.

“Everything works out for the right reasons,” he told TIME. “Everything comes to life.”

Today, the attention he once watched other celebrities receive has become part of his own life.

TIME opens its profile with Druski riding an e-bike through New York while deliberately covering most of his face for safety. When he eventually removes the covering during his trip to Brooklyn, two men reportedly run across the street at a traffic light to ask him for a selfie.

For someone who spent his childhood studying fame from afar, the moment illustrates just how dramatically his circumstances have changed.