French streamer says he ‘didn’t kill’ co-host in live broadcast

Extreme online stunts.is in the spotlight in France after a streamer's death. (Pexels)

PARIS – A French streamer whose colleague died during a live broadcast denied responsibility on Monday, in a case that has pitted the government against the Kick platform and spotlighted extreme online stunts.

“I’m not the one who killed him. None of us killed him,” Safine Hamadi told broadcaster RTL.

Hamadi is one of the former presenters of the Kick channel that showed the death of 46-year-old Raphael Graven, alias Jean Pormanove, in mid-August.

An autopsy ordered by prosecutors in Nice has since ruled out “intervention by a third party” playing a role in his death.

Hamadi denied any abuse of Graven during the 12-day live stream, which featured the man enduring physical abuse and humiliation dished out by other participants.

“I wasn’t mistreating him, not at all,” the 23-year-old said, adding that “everything was consensual” and that the harassment, as well as Graven’s protests, were part of an act.

“We wanted it to be spectacular and (Graven’s) reactions were just that -- exaggerated -- so people would clip the videos, talks about us, create more buzz,” Hamadi added.

He said he and Graven were paid 6,000 euros ($7,040) each per month as “actors” by the channel’s operator, Owen Cenazandotti.

Both Hamadi and Cenazandotti were taken into custody after authorities launched an investigation in late 2024 following media reports on the channel’s output but were later released without charge.

Prosecutors said Graven and another participant in the videos “strongly” denied being the victims of violence and confirmed the claim that the clashes were scripted.

The French government last week announced legal action over alleged “negligence” by Australia-based Kick over the death.

The platform accusing ministers of political opportunism in response.

Paris prosecutors have opened a separate investigation into Kick.