Raphaël Graven, known online as Jean Pormanove, was well-known on the streaming platform Kick. The 46-year-old former soldier was regularly beaten and abused by two other influencers during livestreams.
In videos posted by this group, Graven – a wiry former soldier – and “Coudoux,” a person with a disability and under guardianship, were frequently mistreated, suffering blows, insults and humiliation at the hands of the other two. Cenazandotti and Hamadi in particular regularly slapped their two partners hard on the head, grabbed their throats to strangle them, and spat or poured various substances on them.
Despite the hard-to-watch violence, the creators claimed these videos were meant to be humorous. The group raised money from complacent viewers, either through recurring subscriptions or one-off donations. Some viewers encouraged even more degrading abuse in the comments. By the end of the long livestream that ended with Graven’s death, the fundraising counter shown on the video suggested they had collected more than €36,000.