Given how often Kai has been banned from Twitch, you'd think the streamer would jump at the chance to make millions by switching to rival streaming platform Kick. However, according to Adin Ross, both Kai Cenat and iShowSpeed turned down a multi-million dollar offer to make the move.
During a recent YouTube stream (via Dexerto), Ross told fans he'd heard about Kai and iShowSpeed signing a deal with Rumble for an exclusive show, and that he'd actually known "about it for weeks." Kai and iShowSpeed are good friends who recently collaborated on a song.
"I’m hurt, I wanted Kai and Speed on Kick, I’m gonna be honest," said Ross. "We originally offered Kai and Speed 40 million--I think Kai was 40 million and Speed was 40 million. They said no, but I don’t know what Rumble offered, maybe it's more than that.
"That just goes to show you bro, it’s NBA money. One thing I respect about Kai and Speed is they stick to their fuckin’ roots: Twitch and YouTube.
"Me, I’m a sellout," Ross added with a smirk.
Ross made the switch to Kick after receiving his eighth and final Twitch ban back in February for "hateful conduct." Although Twitch didn't provide specifics, fans believe it was due to Ross showing his Kick chat live on stream which had a distressing amount of racist and antisemitic messages. Kick doesn’t have the same content moderation rules as Twitch, making them a perfect match.
Kai has also received several bans from Twitch, with the most recent taking place just last month after he crashed a motorcycle into his streaming setup. The stunt was probably planned as Kai received no injuries, but his camera was definitely damaged after the screen went dark. Twitch rules also forbid glorifying vehicular violence or broadcasting a crash (even one as obviously staged as Kai's), so he was struck with another short ban.
Even though he was back on Twitch after a few days, Kai has expressed frustration with Twitch's rules and threatened to leave the platform for Kai should he get banned again. "I feel like if I get banned one more time, I'm off the fuckin' platform for good," he said in early May.
Kai is one of Twitch's biggest streamers, but it doesn't seem like his celebrity status has helped him avoid bans. "I'm never the Golden Boy," Cenat told YourRage when he suggested his popularity helped insulate him from Twitch's rules. "You know who the Golden Boy is. It's a lot of Golden Boys out there."
Besides offering lucrative deals, Kick also offers streamers an extremely favorable 95/5 revenue split. With Kick getting so little from advertisers, rumors swirled that the platform was actually unprofitable. Kick founder Ed Craven has denied those rumors, stating that Kick was actually profitable within its first three months.