Kai Cenat, the Twitch and YouTube streamer, issued a statement Saturday through his group AMP (Any Means Possible) apologizing after a violent mob took over New York’s Union Square Park a day earlier when he urged fans to come to the park, where he said he was planning to give away free PlayStation 5s and gift cards.
Thousands of people flocked to Union Square Park after Cenat’s social media posts went viral Friday, and the flash mob became violent and began attacking police and other people in the area with bottles, rocks, other debris and fireworks. The riot resulted in multiple injuries and 65 arrests, according to the NYPD.
“We are deeply disheartened by the outbreak of disorderly conduct that affected innocent people and businesses, and do not condone that behavior,” the statement on behalf of AMP said. “We apologize to all of those impacted. We are fully cooperating with local authorities.”
The statement continued, “We recognize that our audience and influence are growing, and with that comes greater responsibility.” Members of AMP include Cenat, whose livestreams feature him speaking to fans, playing games and reacting to videos, and fellow streamer Fanum.
“Yesterday members of AMP hoped to create a positive experience for fans and give back as a show of appreciation for their support,” the group’s statement said. “We’ve hosted fan meet-ups and video shoots in the past, but we’ve never experienced anything at the scale of what took place yesterday.”
Cenat was detained by police after the violent outbreak in Union Square Park and subsequently charged with inciting riot and unlawful assembly, according to police. The AMP statement did not address the charges.
Cenat is currently the second most-subscribed channel on Twitch worldwide, with nearly 87,000 active current subscribers, after Jynxzi (with 101,000), according to TwitchTracker. Cenat has about 6.5 million followers on Twitch; 4 million subscribers on his main YouTube channel; and 3.65 million on his YouTube live channel.
A recent press release from Cenat’s publicists described the 21-year-old as “a talented multihyphenate catapulting through 2023” who “shows no signs of slowing down his meteoric rise into stardom.” In 2022, Cenat won the Streamer of the Year at the 12th annual Streamy Awards.
Pictured above: A crowd cheering for Kai Cenat (center) as members of the NYPD responded to thousands of people gathered for his giveaway event in Union Square Park on Aug. 4.
