21-year-old Kai Cenat rose to the top as the biggest streamer on Twitch in just 2 years. However, success alone does not protect against punishment, as the infamous Guy “DrDisrespect” Beahm had to experience. Kai Cenat narrowly escaped a mistake for which DrDisrespect was banned in 2019.
What was the mistake? In June 2019, DrDisrespect attended E3, one of the biggest gaming conventions, and held a series of IRL streams there. The streamer, known for his mullet, mustache, and sunglasses, was a big deal on Twitch at the time, attracting thousands of viewers.
During his stream, DrDisrespect seemingly carelessly wandered into one of the men’s restrooms at the convention center in Los Angeles where E3 was held. In the background, convention-goers could be seen using the urinals. Later clips showed the streamer himself using a urinal (via kotaku).
What was the consequence? The Doc was banned from Twitch for nearly 2 weeks, and his E3 badge was revoked. On Twitter, Guy Beahm later shared that he was probably too deep in his role as DrDisrespect and didn’t consider the consequences of his actions.
A year later, in June 2020, the mustached streamer was permanently banned from Twitch. The reasons for the ban remain a big mystery to this day. Today he rocks YouTube, but without a lucrative exclusive contract.
Streamer narrowly escapes a ban
How did the situation occur with Kai Cenat? The 21-year-old is currently hosting a subathon as part of “Black History Month” and has been online continuously since February 1. During this time, he streams in various categories, such as Just Chatting or gaming.
Together with former Overwatch pro Félix “xQc” Lengyel, whom he surpassed in paid subscriptions in September 2022, Kai Cenat was also “IRL”: The two streamers were filmed outdoors, in real life.
What led to the mistake? In a clip shared on Twitter, Kai Cenat is seen disappearing into a public restroom. The streamer appears to even signal his cameraman to follow him, which he does.
Twitch colleague becomes hero of the day
How could the mistake have been prevented? xQc seemingly reacted a bit faster than his Twitch colleague and stopped the cameraman. And apparently, this happened at the last second, as the tiled interior and a man apparently washing his hands are already in the frame.
What are the reactions? On Twitter, the post already received over 660,000 views and more than 10,000 likes. It was also shared on the “xQc Clips” YouTube channel, receiving another 102,000 views.
In the comments, xQc’s quick reaction is celebrated. He is the hero of the day but now has quite the score with Kai Cenat. Because a ban in the middle of the subathon could have ended quite badly.
A Twitch streamer writes that 2 feet (about 61 cm) further and the streaming platform could have, in the worst case, withheld the revenue from Kai Cenat’s paid subscriptions (via Twitter). And that would be a lot, as the 21-year-old currently has over 195,000 active subscribers thanks to his subathon (via TwitchTracker).
Fortunately, thanks to xQc’s quick actions, worse was prevented, and the subathon continued. The marathon stream is still ongoing on the Kai Cenat’s channel.
A ban might have been a fitting end to a subathon that already began with a ban: Kai Cenat was banned from Twitch at the end of January, and it was unclear if the subathon could even take place.
Twitch bans one of the most successful streamers in the world for apparently snacking too much
