Who is Kai Cenat?
NEW YORK – A giveaway posted by livestreamer Kai Cenat led to chaos in Union Square on Friday.
Police say Cenat will be charged with at least two counts of inciting a riot and unlawful assembly, along with a few other charges.
But who is he, and how has he garnered so much influence?
Most well-known for his animated livestreams on YouTube and Twitch, Cenat has built a large following. According to the BBC, the 21-year-old recently broke the record for attracting the most Twitch subscribers.
Twitch is a subscription-based platform which allows users to watch people play video games and interact with them at the same time.
Cenat has 6.5 million followers on Twitch and 3.6 million subscribers on YouTube.
He gained notoriety earlier this year after livestreaming on Twitch for 24 hours straight.
Watch: Kai Cenat taken into custody for questioning
Cenat is popular for his diverse range of streaming content, which includes pranks, skits, gaming and a look into his everyday life.
According to NPR, popular music artists such as Drake, Ice Spice, Lil Baby and Lil Uzi Vert have joined Cenat live on camera.
During a livestream on Twitch earlier this week, Cenat told his followers, "On Friday, we will be doing a huge giveaway."
With those few words and a flyer with the location, word spread among the millions of subscribers, who were told Cenat would be giving away PCs, PlayStation 5s, and $100 gift cards.
- Read more: NYPD officers "attacked, crushed, pushed" during chaotic Union Square giveaway, officials say
"It's really just influencers' world, and we're just living in it," Washington Post tech columnist Taylor Lorenz said.
Lorenz knows it's something we'll have to get used to but says there's a much better way for influencers with millions of followers to meet their fans -- using permits and possibly a cap for the amount of fans who can snag a freebie.
"You have to have an RSVP system, ideally, because if you have millions and millions of followers online, you just say, hey, anybody come, come, you yourself don't know," she said.
Police say Cenat did not obtain any permits for Friday's giveaway at Union Square.
"There's a team of people around influencers like this that really handle their business affairs, handle their public events, handle their press, I think those people-- the buck falls with Kai, sure, but I think those people are to blame as well," Lorenz said.
