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 boasting its 95/5 revenue split or 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, on April 30 Kick’s X account vaguely wrote that they are “still in Beta” and “we will make mistakes.” But because there were so many controversies this week, it’s impossible to nail down exactly which issue the platform is acknowledging.
Chaos on the Roads
On Sunday night, 19-year-old creator Neon, 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 sexually assault and “dox the entire family” of an underage viewer he was speaking with.
But this was far from the only controversy that happened this week.
Madness at the Convention
Also over the weekend, the gaming convention Dreamhack took over Melbourne, Australia. It partnered with Kick, which had a booth on the floor and multiple esports events.
After the event ended, multiple attendees shared stories of Kick creators acting inappropriately at the convention. Cosplayer Louise wrote on Sunday that “Kick streamers have NO con etiquette or respect for those around them.”
Streamer Maddy replied with a clip of Kick streamer LouieX harassing her with inappropriate advances and requests to do drugs with her. Another post from a cosplayer in the Melbourne Cosplay Community claimed the same Kick streamer touched a woman’s chest without her permission. Dreamhack issued a statement, adding that LouieX had been banned from the show and Kick.
The Australian Press Has a Word
Then, on April 29, the Sydney Morning Herald posted an investigative piece on Kick. It showcased many of the platform’s top controversies.
One of the longest-running controversies has been the antics of Adin Ross, a popular Kick streamer. Ross has done a number of ethically questionable things on the platform. This includes convincing a fan to throw urine on a family member and platforming misogynist Andrew Tate.
In response, a Kick spokesperson told the Herald, “We do not discuss allegations about individual streamers.” The spokesperson added that many of the accusations took place before the site’s February Community Guidelines change, which added more ways streamers could be banned and in-depth descriptions of bannable content on the site.
The newspaper also asked about Kick streamer John Zherka “hitting on girls under the age of 16” on stream. Afterward, the clips of him with the minors were mysteriously removed from the platform.
Kick’s Undeniable Problem
The problem with Kick is that over the past two years, the same problems just keep popping up. Streamers can get into hit-and-runs live on air and only get a minor slap on the wrist. Kick needs these controversial creators because it’s all they have to pull in viewers to their platform.
For those who have been there since the beginning, hoping to see Kick transform into a Twitch competitor, their dreams are getting dashed.
Trainwreckstv, for example, has not streamed on Kick in over a month. But he has been appearing in streamers’ chats to share his disdain with how the platform is being run.
“I will not stream on my own platform until there are higher standards here,” he responded in a chat on Twitch over the weekend. “It’s getting embarrassing here, if I’m being honest.”
Babz, the creator of KickTools, which gives Kick creators helpful plug-ins and overlays, shared on Wednesday morning his disdain for what the platform has evolved into.
“The problem here is that this continued behavior keeps on happening because after Kick issues a ‘ban,’ they go right back to doing it or someone else follows in their footsteps,” Babz wrote.
Without its creators, a platform is nothing more than a quiet website. Kick has been promising advanced moderation tools, a public API to help developers, and more consistent bans since its inception. But so far, nothing concrete has materialized, and the platform is suffering as a result.
As a creator, the platform you are on is just as important as the content you create. Being relegated to the island of streamers banned on Twitch just isn’t a good look.
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
