Two streamers from Nice went on trial at the Nice tribunal correctionnel on Monday afternoon, charged with violence, abuse of weakness and incitement to hatred, in a case that has put the darker side of online entertainment squarely in front of a French court.
Owen Cenazandotti, 27, known online as NarutoVie, and Safine Hamadi, 24, are accused of subjecting Jean Pormanove and two other vulnerable individuals to sustained physical and psychological abuse during live streams broadcast on the platform Kick, filming it and monetising the audience's reaction.
Pormanove, whose real name was Raphaël Graven, was 46 years old and described by a former military friend as a credulous man who was being manipulated. He died in August 2025 after 12 days of live footage in which he appeared visibly distressed. His body was found motionless under a sheet during a live broadcast. An autopsy found no direct third-party intervention in his death. The trial does not concern his death but the pattern of abuse preceding it.
According to the Nice prosecutor's office the streams were highly profitable. Graven received approximately 140,000 euros from platforms between 2021 and 2025. Cenazandotti received around 460,000 euros between 2022 and 2025, and Hamadi more than 200,000 euros between 2021 and 2025.
In one incident, a 14-year-old boy from the Nice neighbourhood of L'Ariane is alleged to have been used as a human projectile and thrown at Pormanove during a simulated wrestling sequence. The defendants deny any violence took place and say the sequences were scripted. Both Pormanove and the other victim had previously told investigators the same.
The defendants appeared in court on Monday accompanied by several dozen supporters. Both are subject to restrictions preventing them from leaving France, producing or broadcasting online content, or contacting victims. A parallel investigation into the platform Kick itself is under way in Paris.
Source: 20 Minutes, L'Essentiel, Cultinfos, AFP