RaKai’s rise overshadowed by controversy, ranking 17-year-old streamer’s mounting criticism moments of 2025

The 17-year-old streamer RaKai has had one of the biggest breakout years on Twitch in 2025. He hit a peak of more than 233K concurrent viewers in May and now has nearly 2 million followers. With an average of 24K viewers per stream and only about 500 hours of airtime on the platform, his rise has been commendable. The teenager's content regularly trends across social media, and he has become one of the most discussed young streamers of the year.

A huge portion of RaKai’s popularity has been due to controversies. Across 2025, he became involved in numerous contentious and occasionally hazardous episodes, which resulted in platform bans and widespread online debate. These events occurred both at major streamer gatherings and during routine livestreams. Despite the fallout, the controversies have increased his online reach.

Ranking RaKai’s top controversies of 2025

4. Dangerous driving during livestream
Back in June, RaKai streamed himself driving while constantly checking his phone. Once, he nearly lost control of the car, causing viewers to panic in real time. Clips of the incident went viral, with many accusing the teenager of promoting dangerous behavior. The livestream ended with a Twitch ban for violating safety guidelines.

3. Orbeez gun fight at Streamer University injures student
During Kai Cenat’s massive Streamer University event, an Orbeez gun fight broke out involving RaKai. A streamer-student was struck in the eye by a pellet and had to be hospitalized. Cenat later confirmed the injury required treatment. The moment sparked widespread criticism over carelessness.

2. RaKai’s viral Walmart flower incident and explosive response to QTCinderella
In December, RaKai gifted a woman flowers at Walmart during a stream. Viewers believed he stole them. RaKai later said his assistant paid for the bouquet, but Twitch still suspended him.

At the Streamer Awards, QTCinderella joked, “What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever stolen?.. Don’t answer! It’s a test.” RaKai reacted furiously, saying, “You want to know what I was going to say? I was going to say, ‘Listen, bch, what’s the coolest dk you’ve ever sucked? Get the fk off my dk!’”

1. Accusations of animal abuse during Thanksgiving stream
The most serious incident occurred at a Thanksgiving party stream with Deshae Frost. RaKai brought a live turkey to the event and danced around it while filming it approaching cooked turkey meat. Viewers called the moment disturbing and accused him of animal cruelty. The clip became one of his most heavily criticized moments of the year.

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