Two social media influencers have been found guilty of mistreating a French streamer who tragically passed away during a live broadcast of a challenging event. The incident involved Raphael Graven, also known as Jean Pormanove, who was discovered unconscious on a bed by his co-streamers in a village near Nice, prompting the termination of the broadcast on the Kick platform after running for over 298 hours.
Following an investigation that revealed the streamer had been repeatedly subjected to humiliation and abuse in his content, Safine Hamadi and Owen Cenazandotti have been convicted of aggravated violence in connection with his death. The duo received suspended prison sentences from a court in Nice, where they argued that Graven had consented to the mistreatment.
Graven, who had a substantial social media following of over 500,000, endured severe mistreatment during the live stream, including sleep deprivation, physical violence, and consumption of harmful substances. The content creator faced controversy for his live stunts, with Hamadi and Cenazandotti participating in pushing food into his mouth, physical attacks, and throwing objects at him.
Hamadi expressed remorse during the trial and was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence, while Cenazandotti received a two-year suspended sentence. Additionally, they were ordered to pay fines of €5,000 and €15,000, respectively, and banned from posting online for six months.
Despite the tragic outcome, neither individual was charged with Graven’s manslaughter, as the prosecution attributed his death to underlying health issues. The court also acquitted them of exploiting Graven’s psychological vulnerability, citing the streamer’s previous assertions of consent to extreme challenges.
The investigation highlighted a pattern of mistreatment of Graven by co-streamers, potentially driven by financial incentives from viewers seeking sensational content. French authorities are looking into deliberate violence against vulnerable individuals and the dissemination of recordings depicting violations of physical integrity.
Kick, the streaming platform where the incident occurred, is under scrutiny by authorities, although it stated that it was not implicated in the legal proceedings against Hamadi and Cenazandotti, emphasizing that the ruling pertained solely to the two content creators.
