NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: The '7 Days In' jail stream of popular Twitch streamer Kai Cenat, has become a source of controversy for the manner in which a prison guard in the stream treated a participant.
Recently, a Reddit post went viral for sharing a video of the prison guard's harsh treatment of a participant in the jail stream.
Adding to the controversy, Cenat's voiceover in the video has sparked further debate about the nature of the jail stream.
Some fans argue that it resembles a reality TV show, while others criticize it as a misguided concept for streaming.
There are also concerns that romanticizing the prison system may have negative effects on the viewers.
During the live special, the 21-year-old will spend 7 days in a mock prison with cameras recording his every move all the time.
For more details on the viral video clip and fan reactions, as well as its impact on Cenat's jail stream, continue reading.
Kai Cenat's jail stream features a prison guard lashing out at inmates
In a recent installment of Kai Cenat's '7 Days In' jail livestream, specifically on the second day of the broadcast, an incident occurred where one of the prison guards became visibly agitated and confronted one of the inmates.
Witnessing this, Kai Cenat voiced his apprehension, suggesting that the participant might be taking the situation too seriously.
Cenat said, "Chris really might be a cop, bro. He's taking this s**t too serious! He's taking this s**t too serious, bruh. He really might be a f**king fed! Chris might be a f**king fed!"
During the incident, a different prison guard intervened and forcefully escorted another inmate to a cell.
This particular incident from the livestream was posted on the r/LivestreamFail subreddit, where members of the online community drew parallels between Kai Cenat's stream and the Stanford Prison Experiment.
Reddit user claims Kai Cenat's jail stream gave PTSD
For context, the Stanford Prison Experiment was a psychological experiment, conducted over two weeks, aimed to simulate a prison environment to study how assumed roles affected the behavior and reactions of both prisoners and guards.
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The post garnered responses from over 215 individuals on the platform. One Redditor even claimed to have experienced symptoms reminiscent of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after viewing the footage. They went on to say:
"Bruh, this jail stream gave me so much PTSD. Terrible stream idea IMO (in my opinion). Romanticizing the prison system cannot be a good thing for the degens that watch him."
Additionally, Reddit users shared their opinions on the matter, with one viewer drawing a comparison to an MTV show: “Whatever this is feels like its even too cringe/scripted for MTV.”
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In the meantime, another user asserted that Kai Cenat's livestream resembled reality TV programs.
They claimed, "This is literally just reality TV. If anyone watching this doesn't realize everyone is having a good time roleplaying being in prison because their freedoms arent actually stripped away, and not because prison is cool and fun, is an idiot. It's almost approaching 'xQc in GTA RP romanticizes being a criminal to little children' logic."
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Internet reacts to Kai Cenat's jail stream
Kai Cenat's jail stream drew criticism after a clip shared on Reddit said, "Kai realised he's created the Stanford Prison Experiment." Upon reading the post, numerous netizens have shared their perspectives. One fan said, "He bought or is renting an actual abandoned jail."
Another fan said, "There's just something about "degen/scuffed" streaming that's captivating and also leads to funny encounters. I think I'm spoiled now as I can't stand to watch network tv shows, especially procedurals with same formulas."
One fan criticized the stream and said, "Id rather it be scripted and humane then whatever deranged exploitative bullshit ice was doing."
Another user wrote, "I still watch the variety streamers, never understood the just chatting stuff, always seemed kinda meh."
One user questioned, "What's the fascination with prison. A bunch of people pretending to be in prison? And that's fun?"