Druski built his audience on Instagram Live, short sketches and YouTube series he paid for himself. Now Netflix is betting on him. According to Variety‘s Ethan Shanfeld, the comedian has signed a multi-year deal to make original content exclusively for the streamer through his company, 4LIFERS Entertainment, and the first project is a semi-scripted comedy called Collect & Praise, premiering Dec. 1.
From viral sketch to series
The show turns one of Druski’s best-known characters, a money-hungry megachurch pastor, into a full series. Mike Epps co-stars as the pastor’s unpredictable deacon, and the two “scheme their way through scandal, chaos and controversy,” according to the show’s logline. Variety notes that it’s the first time Druski has adapted one of his internet personas into a longform TV production.
The route to Netflix wasn’t direct. Deadline‘s Peter White reports that Collect & Praise was self-funded before Netflix acquired it, and that the character started life as the “Mega Church Pastors Love Money” sketch. On The Diary of a CEO podcast, Druski said Netflix had turned down “multiple different projects” of his over the years. “Now, it’s a whole different story. Now they want to purchase these shows that we’ve made and do more in the future. Now, it’s a bidding war,” he said.
What the deal covers
Deadline understands the agreement covers a set number of projects rather than a traditional overall or first-look deal. Netflix will also license part of Druski’s existing catalog, including Coulda Been Love, Coulda Been Daddy, Coulda Been Records Auditions and his comedy skits. Per Variety, those YouTube series have pulled more than 1 billion views combined.
“I’ve built my platform by creating characters and comedy that resonate with people,” Druski said in a statement shared by Netflix Tudum. “This partnership with Netflix will give me the resources to build on that comedy foundation and bring my work to a new global audience.”
John Derderian, the Netflix VP who oversees Next Gen Content, said Druski “has a gift for building characters that people can’t stop talking about,” adding that Collect & Praise “is just the beginning.”
A big week for a creator
The timing is hard to beat. According to Tubefilter‘s Sam Gutelle, Druski is set to become the first social media creator to host Saturday Night Live on Nov. 7. Gutelle also points out that he has appeared in campaigns with traditional celebrities, built a podcast presence and launched his own agency.
TheWrap‘s Kayla Cobb adds that Druski has more than 15.6 million TikTok followers, was named No. 1 on Rolling Stone’s Most Influential Creator list in 2026, and is set to star with Emma Stone and Chris Pine in the 2027 rom-com The Catch. He’s repped by WME, which brokered the Netflix deal.
The takeaway
Druski didn’t wait for Hollywood to say yes. He funded his own shows, grew the audience himself and came back to the table once the streamers were competing for him. For creators on any platform, that’s the lesson: own your work and your audience first, and the bigger deals tend to follow on better terms.
Image: “Druski at Essence Festival of Culture 2025 01” by Gabriel Brooks (TheSingingPhotographer), via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped and resized.
