France probes live-streamed death of Jean Pormanove after violence

PARIS: French authorities are investigating the death of Jean Pormanove or JP during a live video stream on the Kick live streaming platform, where he had regularly been shown enduring violence and humiliations.

Prosecutors ordered an autopsy and opened an investigation into JP’ death in the village of Contes, north of Nice, on Monday.

Jean Pormanove was a 46-year-old French streamer, videographer, influencer and comedian. His real name was Raphaël Graven.

46 yaşındaki Fransız yayıncı Jean Pormanove, 10 gün süren canlı yayın maratonu sırasında uykusunda hayatını kaybetti. Arkadaşları bir terslik olduğunu anlayıp yayını kapattı.#jeanpormanove #death #SonDakika #BreakingNews pic.twitter.com/dbVJxXvsUV

— Canlı Gündem (@CanliGundem_) August 20, 2025

Clara Chappaz, junior minister for AI and digital technology, said Raphael Graven had regularly featured in videos on Kick, where he was physically assaulted or humiliated by co-streamers as viewers watched live.

“The death of Jean Pormanove and the violence he suffered are absolutely horrific,” she said on X.

Kick Francais said on X it would cooperate with authorities and was undertaking a review of its French content.

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“Our priority is to protect creators and ensure a safer environment on Kick,” it said, adding that “all co-streamers who participated in this live broadcast have been banned pending the ongoing investigation”.

Kick is an Australia-registered live streaming platform that shares revenue with its content creators.

Many sources suggest that he died in his sleep.

The video evidences from his marathon stream suggests that he was physically assaulted and abused before his eventual death.

We need to get justice for Jean Pormanove

The media can’t rewrite what happened.$jean… pic.twitter.com/5wS8rgrEui

— 𝕋𝕒𝕣𝕚 (@0x73T) August 20, 2025

Chappaz said a judicial investigation is underway, that she had referred the matter to digital and audiovisual communication regulator Arcom and that she had filed a report to Pharos, France’s internet portal for reporting illicit internet content.

She said she asked Kick for explanations, adding: “the responsibility of online platforms for dissemination of illegal content is not optional: it is the law”.

Jean Pormanove suffered blows, insults, strangulation

Yassin Sadouni, a lawyer for one of two co-streamers seen abusing Jean Pormanove, said on BFM television that Pormanove had cardiovascular problems and that the violence in the videos was not real but acted.

Hier, il est mort dans son sommeil. Pas d’un accident : des années de tortures psychologiques et physiques l’ont tué à petit feu.

Owen et Safine sont responsables de la mort lente et de l’humiliation de #jeanpormanove. Mais ceux qui riaient, insultaient sa mère, applaudissaient… pic.twitter.com/Q4cUOTtoWc

— Antoine Villedieu (@villedieu_a) August 19, 2025

“All those scenes are just staged, they follow a script,” he said.

French media have shown excerpts of hours-long videos during which Pormanove is seen suffering blows, insults, strangulation, dousing with paint and oil and being shot at with a paintball gun.

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It was not clear from the video excerpts if Pormanove voluntarily subjected himself to the violence or was forced to endure it, nor whether the action was real or staged.