FROM being spat on to kicked in the stomach, “trash streamer” Jean Pormanove endured “absolute horror” during the final 10 days of his life.
Jean – real name Raphael Graven – died aged 46 live on camera at his home in France after taking his grimly popular trash rituals too far.
After 10 days of reported torture, sleep deprivation and ingestion of toxic products – Jean allegedly died in his sleep on camera.
The viewers observing the live-stream marathon noticed the abrupt halt in the challenge, leading them to report Jean’s death on Monday to the police.
The challenge is said to have included “extreme” physical violence, “sleep deprivation”, and “the ingestion of toxic products”, according to BFMTV.
The death was confirmed by Owen Cenazandotti, a fellow streamer in a post on his Instagram.
“I ask you all to respect his memory and not share the video of his last breath in his sleep.”
Jean and his partners were accustomed to extended streaming sessions, which was part of their profession on the platform called Kick, where Jean often served as the focal point for ridicule.
With a social media following exceeding 500,000, Jean was popular for participating in extreme online challenges along with his streamer friends Naruto and Safine.
In his clips, they were seen throwing objects at him, pushing food into his mouth while he was tied up and shooting Jean with a paintball gun.
Naruto and Safine were taken into custody in January 2025 on suspicion of violence against vulnerable people – before being released.
French government minister Clara Chappaz expressed that Jean faced “humiliation and mistreatment,” describing his live stream experiences as frequently being “an absolute horror.”
Kick, introduced in 2022, is a live streaming platform noted for its lenient moderation, making it appealing for content creators.
The murky world of trash streaming has been subject to controversy due to several incidents involving physical harm or death during live broadcasts.
This involves a form of live broadcast where hosts engage in shocking, perilous, humiliating, or otherwise controversial acts, often involving themselves or others.
The genre, which originated in Russia was actually banned on July 30, 2024, in Russia’s State Duma due to public safety concerns and the negative societal impact.
Another death involved with filmed humiliation culture is Valentina Grigoryeva who died of hypothermia after being locked outside in subzero temperatures in 2020.
Valentina, who was pregnant at the time, would live stream with boyfriend Stas Reeflay.
He would repeatedly pepper spray her as she lay screaming on the sofa, smash plates of food over her head and clamp his hands around Valentina’s face, as seen in their videos.
Reeflay, a Russian Youtuber, is facing 15 years in prison for the death of Valentina after he locked her outside in the freezing cold and then livestreamed her lying dead on the sofa.
He was allegedly paid £800 by a subscriber to lock her outside his home near Moscow in subzero temperatures.
The horror clip – far too disturbing to show – then features him pulling her near naked body back inside the flat and laying her on his sofa.
Keeping the camera rolling with her body on show, the 30-year-old Russian then waits for the paramedics to arrive.
He even keeps the camera on as medics enter and attempt to revive Valentina.
“Reality violence” was recently a subculture parodied by Black Mirror episode, Common People.
The episode skewers our subscription-obsessed era by portraying a chilling reality-TV style nightmare where a woman’s consciousness becomes pay-to-play and her desperate husband resorts to self-harm streams to keep her alive.
Black Mirror’s Common People confirms sick obsessions with streamed shame – proving that in the world of clicks, the more people suffer, the more we watch.
The idea behind trash streaming – inviting a few friends over to get drunk, start a live broadcast and ask people for donations is so simple yet so horrific.
But what is different about trash streams are the extent to which the dares are taken to – and the inevitable consequences that come with it.
Over the years, trash streamers have experienced a concerning shift into a list of verbal and sexual assault cases.
A trash stream in October 2020 featured blogger Andrei Burium – also known as Mellstroy – who invited a group of women to a party in Moscow.
After offering a split in revenue, he asked them to take part in dares for exchange in revenue.
In a chilling twist, Barium repeatedly slammed a 21-year-old woman’s head against a table.
His Youtube with a following of 500,000 was blocked however Burium continues to stream shocking content on his back-up channels and posts exclusive content on Telegram.
Another sickening incident involves Ivan Pozharnikov, a trash streamer famous for mocking homeless people in exchange for donations from viewers.
Valentin Ganichev was a homeless victim who allegedly took part in trash streaming with Ivan in return for food and a roof over his head.
He was horrifically humiliated countless times as they pelted eggs over his head, chucked him in cold water and even buried him alive.
On most of the streams, Ganichev was either drunk, or out of his mind on drugs which led viewers to believe he was being forced to participate in the dares – however he admitted to volunteering to officials.
The demand for trash streaming has stemmed from COVID times which produced a lot of lonely viewers and “streamer- boredom”- who wanted a sense of community.
“I was attracted by its real emotions,” said Anton, a 25-year-old security guard.
Another fan of trash streams, nicknamed ‘xbpm_music’, claimed that the broadcasts have helped him “pine less” for his homeland.
“It’s fun for me to see typical Russian idiots,” he said. “Sometimes I look at them and think: ‘Damn, I really need to do something good, otherwise I’ll become like them.’ Motivation or what?”
Psychologist Alena from Russia said: “Getting pleasure from watching violence is a mental disorder”.
