Kick says it ‘will make mistakes’ amid controversial weekend

Since the live-streaming platform Kick was introduced to the world in October 2022, it’s been a hotbed for controversy. Backed by Australian crypto billionaire Eddie Craven, his Stake co-founder Bijan Tehrani, and streamer TrainwreckxTV, it was originally marketed as a home for creators who wanted to make more off of their subscriber revenue (and who wanted a place where they could gamble at crypto casinos).

But instead of talking about the 95/5 split or the incentive program paying creators an hourly wage to stream, most of the talk around Kick comes down to the awful people that dominate its streamer portfolio. This weekend, the internet was plagued with headlines of various controversies that paint the platform as a hub for seemingly criminal activity aimed directly at a young, angry audience.   

Either in response to these stories or something else entirely, Kick’s X account vaguely wrote that they are “still in Beta” and “we will make mistakes.” The fact that there were so many controversies this week, it’s impossible to nail down exactly which issue the platform is acknowledging. 

Kick Chaos on the Roads 

On Sunday night, 19-year-old creator N3on, who has over 293,000 Kick followers, live-streamed himself going for a joyride in a Lamborghini. He was joined by fellow creator Squeeze Benz, who has made a name for himself by posting videos of street racing and swerving through traffic.

Though Squeeze promised to go for a “chill ride” through New York City, the street racer quickly turned reckless. The driver crashed the car and fled the scene. Judging from a different view of the crash on YouTube, at least one car behind them was totaled.

Neon’s Kick account was banned for about a day, though it’s now back online. This isn’t the first time that’s happened. In March 2024, he issued an apology after his account was banned. The ban came after he threatened to “dox the entire family” of a viewer he was speaking with. 

But this was far from the only controversy that happened this week. ...

Further reading:

• Kick’s Creator Incentive Program Is More Confusing Than You’d Expect
• Kick Offered an Hourly Wage to Streamers — But We Have Some Questions
• Nickmercs Controversy Shows That Streaming Platform Kick Is Still for Gambling
• Kick Streamers Say They Feel That The Platform Has Finally Gone Too Far

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