Mike Epps Joins Druski's 'Collect & Praise' as His Deacon
By @sharedot · · 7 pages
- Comedy
- Druski
- Collect And Praise
- Netflix
- Mike Epps
Netflix has cast Mike Epps as the unpredictable deacon beside Druski's money-hungry megachurch pastor, with the series premiering December 1.
The Deacon Gets a Name: Mike Epps Lands the Role
Since the feed first covered Druski's Netflix pact, the show itself has taken concrete shape. According to ChurchLeaders, Mike Epps will costar as the deacon and right-hand man to Druski's pastor character in 'Collect & Praise,' the semi-scripted series that expands the viral megachurch sketch.
The show follows a 'money-hungry megachurch pastor and his unpredictable deacon' as they 'scheme their way through scandal, chaos and controversy.' Hypebeast adds that the series premieres exclusively on Netflix on December 1, 2026 — a fast turnaround for a project announced just this week.
The Sketch That Started It All
The series traces back to January, when Druski's sketch portraying an ostentatious megachurch pastor — lowered onto his church's stage by cables, in designer clothes, shamelessly raising funds while driving expensive cars — took social media by storm.
Charisma Magazine notes the clip struck a nerve because, in its telling, it reflected something recognizable in modern church culture: ministry turned into spectacle, where celebrity status and financial gain can overshadow the gospel.
Nearly ten months later, Charisma reports, a few minutes of satire has become an entire television series.
Watch the Sketch That Broke Through
Watch on YouTube · Druski · 2:43
The megachurch pastor bit remains the engine of this story — the video Charisma describes as depicting a flashy pastor descending from the ceiling and pressuring congregants to give outrageous amounts of money.
Revisiting the sketch matters now because it frames the character Netflix is building a whole series around, and because the clip's polarizing reception — ChurchLeaders notes some saw an attack on the church while others called it prophetic — is exactly the tension 'Collect & Praise' will carry to a global audience.
One Billion Views Walk Into the Deal
Hypebeast reports that alongside original productions, Netflix will license select titles from Druski's existing digital library, including 'Coulda Been Love,' 'Coulda Been Daddy,' and the 'Coulda Been Records Auditions' series — content the outlet says has garnered over one billion collective views.
The production marks Druski's first transition from self-funded independent digital video to a major Hollywood studio release, made through his 4Lifers Entertainment banner under the exclusive multiyear pact.
Netflix's John Derderian, who oversees Next Gen Content, said Druski 'has a gift for building characters that people can't stop talking about.'
Satire Becomes the Thing It Satirizes
Charisma Magazine's Abby Trivett leans into the irony: a parody about the commercialization of Christianity is now a commercial entertainment production, with Netflix bringing the same exaggerated church culture to millions of viewers.
She reports that Charisma Media founder Stephen Strang previously challenged Christians to consider whether Druski was mocking the church or exposing problems believers have become too comfortable ignoring.
Her larger concern isn't Hollywood's portrayal but whether the church's own financial excess and spiritual showmanship made these portrayals believable. Whether 'Collect & Praise' reads as mockery or prophecy will be answered when it premieres December 1.