By Max Stephens and Henry Samuel
A French social media influencer has died on camera during a two-week livestream marathon after months of being “humiliated and mistreated” for the entertainment of viewers.
Raphaël Graven, better known to his 500,000 subscribers as Jean Pormanove, died in his sleep on Monday during a broadcast on the Australian-based website Kick.
Raphaël Graven, alias Jean Pormanove, died in his sleep during a broadcast on Kick.Credit: jeanpormanove/Instagram
The 46-year-old from Contes, north of Nice, is said to have suffered from a serious heart condition and had been broadcasting for more than 298 hours before his death.
Videos seen by the London Telegraph featuring Graven with influencers Owen Cenazandotti, 26 – known as Naruto – and Safine “Safi” Hamadi, 23, apparently show him regularly being beaten, strangled, force-fed, doused in unpleasant liquids and targeted with a paintball gun.
The creators of the videos allegedly received financial donations from viewers, who encouraged more and more degrading and extreme acts to be broadcast.
The death has caused outrage in the French media, with Le Monde describing the dark side of human nature as “reminiscent of some of the most chilling episodes from the British dystopian tech series Black Mirror”.
Politicians called on regulators and livestreaming platforms to explain how the apparent abuse was broadcast online without any intervention.
Prosecutors in Nice confirmed they had opened an investigation into Graven’s death and are conducting a post-mortem examination on Thursday.
Police seized the group’s recording and digital equipment during a search of a property in Contes. “At this stage, there is nothing suspicious, interviews are under way,” a police spokesman said.
In one video, Graven, reportedly a former soldier, screams “call the cops” to viewers after being pummelled by paintball pellets.
Graven had regularly been shown enduring violence and humiliation on the Kick streaming platform.Credit: jeanpormanove/Instagram
In another that resurfaced after his death, Cenazandotti and Hamadi are apparently heard explicitly discussing the possibility of Graven dying live on air. They urged him to tell viewers that if he were to die tomorrow it was “because of his shitty health and not because of us”.
Cenazandotti is seen to say: “People will come after us but it’s because of your 46 years of a miserable life.”
Eventually Graven reluctantly stated to the camera: “If something happens to me live, I take full responsibility.”
Graven is said to have sent a message to his mother shortly before his death that was read out by Cenazandotti.
In it, he stated: “I think this is going too far, I feel like I’m being held captive … I’m fed up, I want to get out, the other guy won’t let me, he’s holding me hostage.”
In an excerpt from the latest “XXL” livestream, which was widely shared on social media on Tuesday, Cenazandotti can be seen expressing concern about his “partner’s” breathing problems and the risk of “physical troubles”.
The final video of Graven, since deleted, shows him lying immobile under a duvet as a plastic water bottle is thrown in his direction. “He’s in a really weird position,” one man says before the broadcast is swiftly turned off.
A fundraising counter shown on the video suggested the group had collected more than £31,000 ($65,000).
Cenazandotti and Hamadi were detained in January before being released as part of a preliminary investigation into suspected violence against vulnerable people, Le Parisien reported.
They have both denied any wrongdoing and dispute the facts of the case.
Damien Martinelli, the prosecutor leading the preliminary investigation, said three charges were being considered, including “public incitement via electronic communication to hatred or violence against a person or group due to their disability”.
Clara Chappaz, France’s deputy minister for digital affairs, said the nature of Graven’s death and the violence he endured were an “absolute horror”.
She has referred the incident to Arcom, France’s media watchdog, and Pharos, the public platform for reporting illegal online content.
“I extend my deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. Jean Pormanove was humiliated and mistreated for months live on the Kick platform,” she said.
“I have also contacted the platform’s management to obtain explanations. The responsibility of online platforms regarding the dissemination of illicit content is not optional: it is the law.
“This type of failure can lead to the worst and has no place in France, Europe or anywhere else.”
Arcom has been criticised for failing to act despite repeated warnings from the media and viewers regarding Grazen’s alleged treatment.
On Wednesday, Arthur Delaporte, the Socialist MP for Calvados, pointed out that Arcom had been notified of the problem following an investigation by news website Mediapart last December and would have to “explain why nothing has happened since”.
But he said the regulator “does not have the resources to carry out its mission”.
In a written response, Arcom said it had been unable to act because the Kick platform has no legal representative within the European Union.
Delaporte said the “parallel police investigation” had also failed to prevent this “tragedy” and that French authorities in general had “failed to protect this man”.
Kick is one of the world’s most popular livestreaming platforms and is often used by teenagers to film themselves playing games.
The Australian-based website said it was “urgently reviewing” the circumstances surrounding Graven’s death, including its own community guidelines.
According to its terms of service, Kick specifically prohibits streamers from featuring anything that “contains self-harm or excessive violence” and “content in furtherance of harmful or illegal activities”.
In a message posted on his Instagram account, Cenazandotti said: “My brother, my partner, my friend. Six years side by side, never letting go of each other. I love you, my brother, and we will miss you terribly.”
Yassin Sadouni, his lawyer, told Le Monde: “We are waiting for the results of the investigation to determine the full circumstances of JP’s death and to identify the responsibilities of each party.”
Earlier Sadouni said on BFM television that the violence in the videos was not real but acted, AP reported. “All those scenes are just staged, they follow a script,” he said.
Hamadi posted: “Rest in peace, my brother.”
A spokesman for Kick said: “We are deeply saddened by the loss of Jean Pormanove and extend our condolences to his family, friends and community.
“We are urgently reviewing the circumstances and engaging with relevant stakeholders to investigate the situation. Kick’s community guidelines are designed to protect creators, and we remain committed to upholding these standards across our platform.”
Telegraph, London
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.