Why These Streamers Ended Up In Jail

When most people think about streaming, they picture late nights, cozy bedrooms, and expensive computers. The most successful streamers know that there's much more to the business than that. Streamers need to build an audience, interact with their friends, and frequently go out into the real world, but all that hard work can go sideways quickly.

Streaming is more dangerous than people realize, and these streamers found out firsthand just how wild their job can get. Streamers have ended up in jail for a variety of reasons, but their crimes, alleged or otherwise, are almost always tied to their careers. Sometimes a wild stunt attracts the attention of law enforcement, and other times an unruly viewer decides to call the police and cause some chaos. Occasionally streamers are just partying with their friends when everything gets out of hand. Whatever their crimes, alleged or otherwise, here are some major streamers who landed themselves in legal hot water.

Johnny Somali is a name that many Twitch viewers probably recognize. Over the years Somali has become well-known for courting controversy, and some might even argue that riling people up and causing real-world drama has been the main focus of Somali's career. During his IRL streams, Somali has a habit of performing outrageous stunts like twerking on historical statues or simply causing chaos in public, like trashing a convenience store.

Naturally, some of Somali's antics have led to serious consequences. He was arrested multiple times while streaming in Japan, but Somali's situation really took a turn for the worse during a 2024 trip to South Korea. Somali had already attracted attention for some inflammatory statements online, and early in his trip, he got into a public fight with a South Korean streamer that attracted the attention of the police.

From there Somali's situation only got more dire. After causing multiple public scenes, Somali found himself facing 12 years in prison. At the time Somali was facing assault and drug charges, but he also was charged with a sex crime after making a deepfake video of himself kissing a popular South Korean streamer named bongbong. In March 2025, Somali showed up to one of his court appearances drunk, all but guaranteeing that he spends at least some time in prison for the various charges he's collected.

Kai Cenat is one of the biggest names in the streaming industry, but his extreme fame inadvertently got him into some trouble in 2023. Cenat decided to hold a big event for his fans in New York City, where he planned to give away some PlayStations and gift cards. The event was held in Union Square, but Cenat probably didn't expect the turnout he'd get. Several thousand people showed up for the giveaway, and slowly but surely the crowd started getting unruly. 

The city sent in a thousand police officers to control the crowd, and Cenat ended up facing charges for inciting a riot. As you might imagine, streamers all over the internet reacted to Cenat's arrest in a big way. Some, like xQc and Hasan Piker, sympathized with Cenat's situation. Piker criticized the police response, claiming that if MrBeast held a similarly rowdy event, it wouldn't have attracted so many officers. Taking a different angle, xQc defended Cenat's wider fanbase, arguing that Cenat's community shouldn't be judged on the basis of one chaotic situation. 

Other internet personalities, like MoistCr1TiKaL, criticized Cenat for not thinking through the consequences of his massive giveaway and not making proper plans for holding that kind of event. The charges against Cenat were later dropped, and the streamer issued an apology for what happened.

Swatting is a threat that almost every streamer has had to deal with at one point or another. Someone online gets a streamer's address and calls the police, intending to cause all sorts of chaos. That's seemingly what happened to IShowSpeed in 2022 when a squad of police officers showed up at his house. Speed was filming in his backyard when the police arrived, and his cameraman kept recording as the police cuffed Speed and put him in the back of a squad car. Speed's mom was also there at the time, and she, along with Speed's cameraman, tried to explain that the whole incident was probably spurred by a prank call.

Speed was taken to jail, but the good news is that he didn't have to stay there long. Speed later explained how Adin Ross got him out of jail by paying the entirety of his $20,000 bail, no questions asked. Fans weren't too surprised to hear that, since Ross has also gone through his own traumatic swatting incidents. Though it seems this entire ordeal was a total misunderstanding, fans never got any clarification on why Speed ended up actually being held in jail with such a high bail.

Ice Poseidon is a name that many streaming fans will recognize. He's a controversial streamer who started out playing "Runescape" and slowly transitioned to doing IRL streams as he bounced between various platforms. Ice Poseidon has been through some tragic events over the course of his streaming career, but only one ended with him in handcuffs.

In 2023, Ice Poseidon was in Thailand with his girlfriend, some crew members, and other streamers. He and his friends threw a big party in a restaurant where Ice dressed up in lingerie and gave lap dances as a joke. The party got out of hand pretty quickly, and Ice and several of his friends were arrested. They ended up facing up to five years in prison for, among other things, distributing obscene content because they'd filmed Ice's dancing.

The court proceedings took two months, but in the end Ice and his friends managed to avoid having to spend any time in prison. They pled guilty to their charges, apologized for their behavior, and were allowed to simply pay fines before leaving the country.