Kai Cenat PS5 giveaway causes Union Square in NYC to be overrun with fans
Massive Twitch streamer Kai Cenat caused a major scene, and was reportedly taken into custody, after hosting a Playstation 5 giveaway in New York City's Union Square.
NBC 4 in New York reported that the giveaway, scheduled for 4 p.m., promised to hand out PS5s and gift cards but had overcrowded Union Square by 3 p.m. The outlet reported that things got rowdy, leading to police taking Cenat and "numerous" others into custody.
Scenes captured at Union Square are truly difficult to believe. Helicopter images showed people jumping on top of moving vehicles, debris getting chucked, and what seems like thousands upon thousands of people ramming into and around one another. NBC 4 said that police believed there were no major injuries, which feels like a lucky break.
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Who is Kai Cenat?
Cenat is the most-subscribed creator on the streaming platform Twitch, according to TwitchTracker. The 21-year-old does hours-long streams showing him gaming, doing pranks, or hanging out, often featuring celebrity guests like Ice Spice, Lil Baby, and 21 Savage.
Two days ago he announced the giveaway on a stream that racked up millions of views. Cenat, of course, also live streamed the madness in Union Square because an influencer's job is never done.
What was the fallout?
The wild scene dissipated Friday evening as police swarmed to break it up. Things got so bad that trains bypassed the Union Square station for a period of time, but have since resumed normal service. It's unclear what, if anything, Twitch would do about Cenat streaming the incident — though he has been temporarily suspended from the platform numerous times before.
While Cenat is obviously a huge creator — look at what happened on Friday — this whole incident will likely only serve to bolster his public profile, even if it won't endear him to New Yorkers.
Topics Twitch
Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).
