Kick streamer DumbDumbJeez has sparked outrage after a controversial stunt during a live stream. On October 24, 2024, DumbDumbJeez took a homeless woman named Mabel on a date to a nice restaurant as part of a contest hosted by former YouTube prankster Sam Pepper. The contest, which offers a $50,000 prize, involves participants completing various challenges on-stream.
During the stream, Mabel, who appeared to be suffering from mental illness, shared some unusual stories with DumbDumbJeez. After they ordered food, DumbDumbJeez claimed he forgot his wallet in the car and then proceeded to “dine and dash,” leaving Mabel with the bill. He ran out of the restaurant and hopped into a rideshare vehicle.
The incident was captured on video and quickly went viral, garnering significant backlash. Many viewers expressed their anger and disappointment, calling for DumbDumbJeez to be banned from all platforms. The clip of the dine and dash was removed from the Kick VOD, but it was reposted on social media, where it continued to spread
This incident has raised some very serious ethical questions in regards to the extent content developers would go in their attempt to elicit views and engagement. While DumbDumbJeez still tries to claim that his event was scripted and Mabel knew what would happen, most public sentiment has been one of negativity.
The CEO of Kick, Ed Craven publicly criticized the stunt, referring to it as “pathetic.” Ed took to share his thoughts on it and said Kick would give $50,000 to Mabel if someone was able to connect them with her, saying, “Heartbreaking to see. Hope we can find her quickly and she can put the money to good use.”
Co-founder Bijan Tehrani jumped in professing support for Mabel and called out DumbDumbJeez.
DumbDumbJeez is no stranger to controversy. Most of his content involves pranks and trolling, underpinned by a series of divisive incidents. For example, in October 2023, he got into another viral incident after slapping a man on stream who claimed to be a robber; he drew mixed reactions from viewers.
Boasting about 2,500 subscribers on Kick and 8,000 followers on Instagram, DumbDumbJeez’s audience enjoys the nature of his provocative content.
This latest incident indeed raises a broader debate about the ethics of creating such content and how that would affect vulnerable people. But as the backlash builds up, DumbDumbJeez’ actions are more of a grim reminder of the responsibility content creators should have. The demand for ethics in streaming and people’s treatment inside such stunts is now more insistently urgent. Mabel’s incident has shown just how hazardous sensationalized content can get-and accountability that hangs in the balance of the digital era.
