French streamer’s on-air death provokes outcry as authorities probe allegations of abuse

A hand and a computer keyboard are pictured in this file photo. (Soumil Kumar / Pexels.com)

PARIS — The death of a French streamer during an extended broadcast has prompted soul-searching and controversy as a government minister said Raphael Graven had been “humiliated and mistreated for months” on air and a judicial investigation delves into alleged abuse.

Graven, 46, also known as Jean Pormanove, died on Monday in Nice during a broadcast on the Kick livestreaming platform that had been running for more than 298 hours. French media reported the broadcast was interrupted soon after Pormanove’s co-streamers found him unconscious and lying on a bed.

Damien Martinelli, the prosecutor in the southern French city, said in a statement that the autopsy carried out on Thursday showed the death was not caused by a trauma and “not related” to the intervention of any third party. Some additional medical and toxicological analyses have been ordered, he said.

Pormanove’s death came as a judicial investigation was already underway into alleged violence and humiliations committed against him, prompted by reports from French investigative website Mediapart about what it described as the “online abuse business.” Mediapart said co-streamers were allegedly mistreating Pormanove in live broadcasts, sometimes encouraged by payments from viewers, to generate more subscriptions and money.

The investigation, opened in December, is looking into “deliberate violence against vulnerable persons” and “spreading recordings of images related to offences involving deliberate violations of physical integrity,” Martinelli’s statement said. It did not specify why Pormanove could be considered vulnerable.

The statement said two co-streamers allegedly involved in the case were briefly taken into custody in January but were released pending further investigation.

In parallel, the Nice prosecutor said, investigators interviewed Pormanove and one of his co-streamers who both appeared to be victims of violence and humiliation. They “strongly denied being victims of violence, stating that the events were staged in order to `generate a buzz’ and make money.”

Platform bans co-streamers

Pormanove’s death prompted strong reactions on social media as many users questioned the authorities’ failure to act.

Clara Chappaz, France’s digital media minister, said Pormanove’s death was “absolutely horrific” and she had contacted the platform’s managers for an explanation.

“Jean Pormanove was humiliated and mistreated for months live on the Kick platform,” she said in a statement on X.

Kick said all Pormanove’s co-streamers who participated in the broadcast have been banned pending the outcome of the investigation.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Jean Pormanove and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and community,” Kick said in a statement released on X. “We are committed to cooperating fully with the authorities in this process. We are undertaking a comprehensive review of our French-language content.”

‘Remove obvious illegal content’

According to French media reports, Pormanove was used to take part to so-called “marathon” events on air for an extended period of time, with incentives for viewers to subscribe or make donations. He accumulated over one million followers on several video platforms, including over 192,000 on Kick.

An Australian company, Kick is a video streaming platform similar to Amazon’s Twitch, but with a much more permissive moderation policy that allows gambling activities, sexually suggestive content or content involving humiliation or violence to be broadcast without automatic sanctions -- attracting influencers banned from other platforms.

“All platforms have a legal responsibility to remove obvious illegal content of which they are aware,” Chappaz said.

Mediapart reported that a few hours before he died, Pormanove was the victim of abuse as some co-streamers slapped him and punched him several times.

Martinelli, the prosecutor, said investigators conducted several interviews with people who were present at the time of death and a large amount of material and video footage have also been seized.

Sylvie Corbet, The Associated Press