Kai Cenat almost lost his Twitch channel over a fireworks stunt that turned out to be staged. On July 3, Cenat and MrBeast livestreamed a $310,000 giveaway that escalated into what looked like a live explosion inside Kai's streaming room. Twitch yanked the VOD within minutes and warned his team of a ban. The catch: the whole room was a 1:1 replica in a field.
⚡ Key Takeaways
- Kai Cenat and MrBeast gave away $310,000 live on Twitch on July 3, splitting it 31 ways among viewers.
- The stream climaxed with what looked like a live fireworks explosion inside Kai's streaming room.
- Twitch pulled the VOD within minutes and warned Cenat's team he was on the verge of a ban.
- The room was a 1:1 replica built in a field over roughly a month, MrBeast revealed on TikTok the next day.
- Kai had to physically walk his Twitch reps through the set to get the VOD restored.
- One internal moderation call almost wiped out the biggest streamer in Twitch history overnight.
What actually happened?
Cenat went live with MrBeast for a 4th of July broadcast that started as a giveaway and turned into one of the biggest creator moments of the year. They gave away $310,000 in cash on stream, splitting the pot 31 ways among viewers, according to Tubefilter. The bit turned when AMP's Davis Dodds walked in with a firework labeled "for professional use only," got into a staged confrontation with MrBeast, and lit it. The room appeared to erupt in flame while hundreds of thousands of live viewers panicked in chat.
Twitch reacted within minutes. Staff pulled the VOD off Cenat's channel and told his team he was about to be banned, per Complex. Cenat had to walk his platform reps through the actual set to prove no property had burned down and no safety code had been broken. Only after that in-person tour did Twitch restore the VOD.
Why does this matter for creators?
Because the same broadcast that gave Cenat the biggest creator moment of the July 4 window almost erased the business that generated it. Kai is the most-subscribed streamer in Twitch history and the founder of AMP, the collective that includes Fanum, Duke Dennis, and Agent 00. One internal moderation call on a Wednesday night would have deleted his primary distribution channel. That was not a hypothetical, that was what his reps were told before he got them out to the field.
This is the tension defining top-of-market streaming in 2026. Bigger production means bigger risk of violating a rule that didn't exist yesterday. Every creator who runs a stunt to chase virality is now, functionally, negotiating with a compliance department in real time. Some of them are going to lose that negotiation.
"I was on the verge of getting banned. I had to hurry up and tell my rep, the people that represent me on Twitch, I had to show them everything, I had to show them the whole set."
Kai Cenat, Twitch streamer and founder of AMP, via Dexerto
What's the bigger picture?
Top-tier streams now look like Hollywood shoots. Cenat and MrBeast's teams spent roughly a month building a 1:1 replica of Kai's streaming room in the middle of an open field, purely so they could stage a fireworks war without burning down the actual AMP house, MrBeast confirmed in the behind-the-scenes TikTok reported by Dexerto. The rollout was choreographed across three platforms in 48 hours: Twitch live, TikTok reveal, YouTube long-form. That is the new playbook for a viral creator moment, and it takes the kind of budget that used to only exist at network TV.
The pushback landed fast. Ken McMullen, president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, told CBC Kids News the setup showed "pure disrespect for personal safety" and warned copycats would try to duplicate it. Regulators and trust and safety teams now watch production-scale stunts the way they used to watch reality-TV dares. Expect Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok to rewrite the rulebook on staged stunts within the next 12 months.
What does Fanvault think?
This is the argument for owning your revenue channel, delivered in one live example. Cenat's audience is real, his craft is real, his production is real. But everything he built is one moderation call away from disappearing, because the platform he broadcasts on is also the landlord that can change the lease overnight.
Fanvault's whole thesis is that creators operating at this altitude should be running a storefront, authenticated memorabilia drops, and paid content on infrastructure that they, not a platform trust and safety team, control. When creators keep 92% of every dollar and the payout doesn't depend on whether a VOD stays up, a Wednesday-night ban threat becomes a bad headline, not a business-ending event.
Cenat kept his channel this time. The next call might not go his way, and every creator building an audience on someone else's platform should be planning for that Wednesday.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Kai Cenat actually get banned from Twitch?
No, but he came very close. Twitch pulled the stream's VOD off his channel within minutes of it ending and told his team he was on the verge of a ban, per Complex. The threat only lifted after Cenat physically walked his platform reps through the replica set to prove nothing illegal or dangerous had happened.
Was any of the fireworks stream real?
The giveaway was real. Cenat and MrBeast handed out
Who is Davis Dodds?
Davis Dodds is a member of AMP (Any Means Possible), Kai Cenat's Twitch collective that also includes Fanum, Duke Dennis, Agent 00, and Chrisnxtdoor. Dodds was the one who walked into frame carrying the "for professional use only" firework and lit it after the staged confrontation with MrBeast.
Why does one Twitch decision matter this much?
Because Twitch is Cenat's primary distribution channel and the source of the audience he monetizes everywhere else. He is the most-subscribed streamer in Twitch history, and one internal moderation call would have wiped out his primary business overnight. That is the entire argument for creators owning direct storefronts and off-platform revenue, so a single ban threat doesn't decide whether the business exists tomorrow.