Who Is Kai Cenat, the Popular Influencer Charged With Inciting a Riot in NYC's Union Square?

Over the weekend, thousands of young people flooded Union Square Park in New York City on the hunt for a PlayStation 5. It came after popular influencer Kai Cenat shared on social media that he would be giving away several of the pricey Sony game consoles at 4 p.m. on Aug. 4. By 3 p.m., the area was overrun with eager fans as the NYPD worked to contain the crowds.

For those unfamiliar with Cenat, the news came as a shock. It also raised questions about how big of a person Cenat actually is to draw such a massive crowd of people to the middle of Manhattan.

Who is Kai Cenat?

Kai Carlo Cenat III is a popular Twitch and YouTube streamer with upwards of 10 million followers across all his social media. Earlier this year, the 21-year-old New York City native became the most-subscribed Twitch streamer of all time.

What is Kai Cenat famous for?

Cenat's YouTube career began in 2018. He started out making prank videos and participating in online trends as his profile began to grow.

In 2020, Cenat joined AMP (Any Means Possible), a collective of content creators with millions of combined followers and billions of views on their YouTube videos. His two YouTube channels have more than seven million followers combined, while he boasts 6.5 million followers on Twitch.

Among his most-viewed YouTube videos are streams of him playing NBA 2K with 21 Savage, eating cannabis edibles for the first time, and watching and reacting to viral TikToks.

Earlier this year, he was named one of Rolling Stone's 20 most influential creators alongside social media giants like Mr. Beast, Logan Paul, and the D'Amelio twins. He picked up awards for Streamer of the Year at the Streamy Awards in December 2022 and at the 2023 Streamer Awards this spring.

One of the fans gathered in Union Square on Aug. 4 told The New York Times that Cenat is "the biggest Black creator in America right now."

What happened at Kai Cenat's PS5 giveaway?

After Cenat announced he'd be giving away PlayStation 5s to lucky fans, young people across the five boroughs and beyond descended on Union Square Park with the hope of claiming their console. But the event quickly became raucous as people began throwing rocks, bottles, paint cans, and other debris, as well as lighting fireworks and aiming them at police officers and others in the crowd, per Variety.

Video soon went viral of fans jumping on cars as the streets were filled with throngs of people. Cenat took to his YouTube channel to livestream his point of view during the events and encouraged all those in attendance to stay safe.

For Cenat's own safety, police had to remove him from the area after the crowd became increasingly violent. In total, the NYPD arrested 65 people, including 30 juveniles. Cenat was also taken into custody and charged for the incident.

What charge is Kai Cenat facing for the riot?

Cenat is facing charges of inciting a riot and unlawful assembly for the Aug. 4. debacle, according to The Associated Press. According to Jaffrey Maddrey, chief of the NYPD, the streamer didn't have a permit to hold an event of that size.

“It was uncontrolled. It took us a while to get it under control. And a lot of young people got hurt,” the police chief said, per The New York Times. “This shows the power of social media and the danger of social media."

Who did Kai Cenat give PlayStation 5s to?

It remains unclear just how many—if any—of those gathered at Union Square actually went home with a PS5 that day. He's been quiet on all his social media channels since the incident.