The streaming platform Kick is being investigated by the French government following the sudden death of streamer Jean Pormanove. The streamer passed away in his sleep while actively livestreaming on Kick, and questions have been raised regarding the nature of his passing and what led up to it.
Jean Pormanove, aka Raphael Graven, was a French 46-year-old streamer who got his start on TikTok, before moving to Twitch, where he gained nearly 700,000 subscribers. In 2023, he moved to the Kick platform, where he ultimately became the highest-viewed French streamer on the entire platform, and at one point in 2024, became the fourth most-watched streamer on Kick overall.
Kick Streamer’s Death Leads to Judiciary Investigation by French Government
Pormanove passed away on August 18, 2025, in the midst of a Kick broadcast that had been airing for over 280 hours. French media channels and Dexerto are now reporting that an investigation has been opened into the nature of the streamer’s death. The reports claim that Pormanove was subjected to ten days of “torture,” which included sleep deprivation and acts of physical violence, like attempted suffocation and electrical shocks. The French minister for digital affairs and AI confirmed a judicial investigation was underway, and criticized Kick for allowing the content to go uncensored and remain online.
Pormanove was streaming with fellow streamers Owen “Naruto” Cenazandott and Safine Hamadi, and reportedly sent a note to his mother saying that he was fed up with Naruto’s streaming marathon “death game” and wanted to leave, but wasn’t allowed to, saying he was “locked in.” His condition was apparently brought to light by a viewer, who donated to bring attention to Naruto that Pormanove didn’t seem to be breathing. After responding by throwing a water bottle at Pormanove and receiving no response, the broadcast was cut. However, when the authorities arrived to investigate, Naruto apparently wasn’t there, as it’s reported Pormanove was found alone. Naruto and Safine were notably arrested in January 2025 on suspicion of producing videos humiliating “vulnerable people,” but were released the same day.
As one might expect, this has drummed up quite a bit of concern and controversy around Kick as a whole. On August 20, Kick announced that Pormanove’s co-streamers had been banned pending the investigation, while Kick streamer and stakeholder Adin Ross decried the incident, called for justice for Pormanove, and said changes needed to be made to Kick immediately. He and Drake have also offered to pay for Pormanove’s funeral costs, saying it was “the least they can do” about it.
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