The untimely demise of online streamer Jean Pormanove has unveiled the shadowy realm of a streaming platform that draws users by offering provocative, uncensored content that would typically be prohibited on mainstream platforms like YouTube.

The death of content creator Pormanove, whose real name was Raphaël Graven, on August 18 sent shockwaves throughout France, with politicians expressing outrage at scenes of ‘absolute horror’.

Currently, French prosecutors are investigating how the former soldier was subjected to a harrowing ordeal of sleep deprivation, brutal beatings, and even forced ingestion of harmful substances prior to being discovered lifeless in bed, without any intervention.

The livestream was viewed by at least half a million people, sparking urgent concerns about how such content was permitted to continue without oversight.

Detractors describe the platform Kick as ‘a playground for degeneracy,’ hosting streams featuring animal torture, people being targeted with paintballs, and creators enduring beatings for entertainment.

In the eyes of many, it has emerged as the internet’s most controversial mainstream platform, with its allure seemingly grounded in disorder, shock, and the transgression of boundaries.

Pormanove’s death is tragically not the first controversy tied to the site. Homeless women have been cruelly pranked, chickens beheaded and tortured – all in pursuit of views, subscribers, and money.

Yet the audience only grows. Kick, which according to NME counts rapper Drake among its ambassadors, draws around 817,000 users each month, a figure climbing rapidly. 

Launched in 2022, little is known about the site’s investors beyond its two billionaire co-founders, Bijan Tehrani and Ed Craven.

The pair also co-founded Stake – the largest crypto-backed casino in the world.

As on Amazon’s Twitch, Kick viewers can pay a few pounds to subscribe to channels and unlock special perks including access to personalised digital stickers, unique badges that display next to their username and access to exclusive content or chat features offered by the creator they subscribe to.

Kick stands out from other streaming services mainly due to its highly attractive payment system for content creators. The platform keeps only five per cent of the money paid by users to subscribe to channels, compared to the 30 per cent to 50 per cent cut taken by Twitch.

The platform is also notorious for its much more permissive moderation policy. 

Kick allows certain gambling activities that are banned on Twitch, as well as sexually suggestive scenes or content involving humiliation or violence – such as those involving Pormanove – to be broadcast without automatic sanctions. 

Chicken tortured and beheaded 

In December last year, popular streamer Rangesh Mutama, known online as N3on, faced backlash and was banned from Kick following allegations of animal abuse during a livestream.

The incident reportedly occurred during a 24-hour survival-themed stream where N3on was said to have tortured a chicken before prepping it to eat while ‘stuck on a desert island’ along with fellow streamer Mo Deen.

In the stream, N3on is seen with other streamers catching the small animal before devising a plan on how they would butcher and consume it.

Although N3on did not kill the chicken himself, he was encouraging Mo Deen to carry out the vile act while laughing and interacting with viewers on camera. 

Deen allegedly hacked off the chicken’s head off camera.

But the violence and lack of guilt surrounding the lead-up to the deed caused Kick to ban the streamer.

N3on responded to the ban and defended his actions on X, claiming he didn’t violate the terms of Kick as the chicken was killed off-camera. 

Kick community guidelines state: ‘No illegal violence against animals will be tolerated. Videos displaying legal hunting practices are permitted. 

‘However, graphic, close up and gruesome displays of animal suffering are not allowed.’   

Streamer shot with paintball in brutal contest

Paul ‘Ice Poseidon’ went viral after beginning a simulated jail livestream on the Kick platform in 2023.

The experience involved challenges and tasks that the participants had to complete in order to ‘escape’ the virtual prison. 

The last man standing by the end of the challenge would win £37,000.

In the hours-long footage, the controversial internet personality can be seen in one moment firing a paintball from short-distance at a contestant.

The Florida native, real name Paul Dennis Denino, issued a chilling warning to participants who violated the rules, saying: ‘Gary, against the wall. Instead of tasers, if you guys break the rules in the future, you’re going to get paintball’.

Poseidon fired the paintball at the contestant who was faced away from him, arms and legs stretched out.

Moments after the trigger was pulled, the participant could be seen clutching their back while screaming before dropping to the floor and writhing in agony.

The other men gathered around in orange jumpsuits watched on without offering any support or comfort.

Poseidon was also seen tasering participant Carl, while another Kick streamer who was involved in the bizarre challenge was seen being taken to the ‘prison’ bathroom with his hands cuffed behind his back and a bag over his face.

He quickly learned that only a very small curtain separated him from the eyes of the audience, who were able to watch his every move.   

Died on livestream after 10 days of ‘torture’

The most recent controversy involved Raphaël Graven, better known online as Jean Pormanove, who was a prominent figure in France’s streaming world with over a million followers across social media.

But behind his online persona, he was allegedly trapped in a nightmare of gruesome online challenges involving humiliation, violence and dangerous stunts.

The popular Kick creator, 46, was found dead overnight on August 18, in bed at his home in Contes, near Nice. 

Like something from a Black Mirror episode, he is believed to have passed away in his sleep during a live broadcast, following what friends have described as relentless ‘humiliation streams’.

Clips of his previous livestreams online show him being slapped, beaten, covered in paint, choked, thrown across the room, jumped on, vomitted on, and strangled while having food forced into his mouth.

His tormentors, earning tens of thousands of euros per month, with 500,000 subscribers on the platform that made them stars of French-speaking Kick, regularly using them for their business promotions. 

It has been reported that a few days before his death, Pormanove sent a heartbreaking final message to his mother to say he felt as if he was ‘being held hostage’ and admitted he was ‘fed up’ with the controversial streams that had become his trademark. 

France’s Minister for Digital Affairs and Artificial Intelligence, Clara Chappaz, condemned the ordeal as an ‘absolute horror’ and said platforms must do more to protect vulnerable creators.

Sarah El Haïry, the High Commissioner for Children, described the tragedy as ‘horrifying’, warning parents to remain vigilant about the violent content children can access online. 

Kick, the streaming platform where Jean Pormanove built his following, said it was ‘deeply saddened’ by his death and promised to urgently review the circumstances. 

‘We are urgently reviewing the circumstances and collaborating with relevant stakeholders. Kick’s community guidelines are designed to protect creators, and we are committed to enforcing them across our platform,’ a spokesperson told AFP.   

Homeless dine and dash prank

Last October, a Kick streamer who is known online as Dumbdumbjeez, was booted from the platform after a video he posted showed him dining and dashing, leaving an alleged homeless woman to fork out on the bill.

In the cruel video, which the content creator said was part of a contest to win over £35,000, the young man was seen showing the receipt of a steep £56 bill before panning the camera to show a women smiling meekly opposite him.

Dumbdumbjeez tells the woman, who he says is called Mabel, that he needs to leave the restaurant to get his wallet from the car before filming himself exiting through the front door.

But the streamer steps into the backseat of a vehicle that was waiting for him down the road and leaves the woman alone with the bill.

The clip went viral and Kick’s co-founder Bijan Tehrani said he didn’t find the ‘prank’ funny, and went on to ban Dumbdumbjeez from the platform.

‘This pathetic and now banned streamer did this while trying to win a contest for $50k. I’m disappointed this happened on Kick and we’ve got $50k for this lady if anyone can connect us,’ Tehrani wrote on X.      

Dressed like a ‘dirty crackhead registered sex offender’

Controversial social media star Natalie Reynolds has been dubbed ‘The Most Dangerous on Kick’ for her concerning behaviour carried out in the name of getting clicks.

Ranging from posting videos including Surviving 24 Hours as a 600lbs Person, to stripping in shopping centres and interviewing children in public, Reynolds has caused a stir in the streaming scene and is known as a key ‘rage baiter’. 

In one video, the 26-year-old, who has over 33,000 followers on Kick and more than 5.8million on YouTube, threatens to soil a public swimming pool before mocking the homeless population. 

The blonde content creator told her viewers she spent two hours applying makeup to look like a ‘dirty crackhead and registered sex offender called Susie who has just escaped pedo village’ before sitting on a public floor.

It came after another stream she carried out where she visited a designated neighbourhood for registered sex offenders to live in, separated from the rest of society. 

She went dressed in a pink t-shirt and shorts, with her hair in pigtails while carrying a fluffy teddy bear-themed rucksack and offered them cupcakes.

This sparked fury among viewers, but tens of thousands of people logged in to watch the controversial stream. 

Posted on her Kick channel is a 50-second clip of her being whipped by what appears to be a lingere-clad dominatrix. With almost 40,000 views, it is likely the free clip is readily available to encourage new subscribers.

Reynolds is also known for a swathe of other cruel and dangerous social media stunts, including daring a woman who apparently couldn’t swim to jump into a lake.

The streamer, claiming to be shocked, then fled the scene. She was later filmed with her producers as a fire truck ‘rushed’ to the scene.    

While many of the details remained unclear, Austin Fire Department confirmed that they were called to Lady Bird Lake for a ‘medical call’ for a rescue. 

Disgusted social media users blasted the streamer for her callous behavior. 

Does anything go on Kick? 

But despite the swathe of controversies, not everything is permitted on Kick.

That hasn’t stopped the site, however, from actively cashing in on its ‘edgy’ reputation. 

The controversial platform has become a magnet for influencers banned elsewhere, or those who thrive on provocation and outrage.

Among its biggest signings was American streaming sensation Amouranth, who had been temporarily suspended from Twitch for videos branded too sexualized. 

Pro-Trump influencer Adin Ross also made the jump after his 2023 Twitch ban – and has since become one of Kick’s most notorious stars.

Ross, who is infamous for sexist, homophobic and racist outbursts, was welcomed with open arms by Kick. Though Twitch eventually reinstated him, his brand of controversy now thrives on the Australian platform.

And it’s not just English-speaking provocateurs. French influencers have also found a home on Kick, including YouTuber Marvel Fitness, who was convicted of psychological harassment in 2021 and later banned from other services.

In September 2023, viewers were stunned when an escort was filmed being detained against her will inside the apartment of streamer Ice Poseidon – as one of Kick’s own executives, Craven, made a tasteless joke about it live on air.

The chaos didn’t stop there. A year later, two US influencers, Jack Doherty and Sam Pepper, were both booted off the site after high-profile stunts. 

Doherty was banned for crashing his car during a livestream, while Pepper tricked a homeless woman in a staged, humiliating event.

Yet, remarkably, Pepper appears to be back on the platform. 

And despite his controversies, Ross remains one of Kick’s biggest names, even inviting white supremacist Nick Fuentes and disgraced men’s rights influencer Andrew Tate onto his shows.

Far from keeping a distance, Kick itself regularly promotes Ross’s streams – proof, critics say, that the site isn’t just tolerating controversy, it’s building its entire empire on it.  

The Daily Mail has contacted Kick for comment.