Internet detectives figured out it was staged even before the reveal
⭐️HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW⭐️
- On July 3, YouTuber MrBeast was on Kai Cenat’s Twitch stream.
- During the stream, Cenat’s friend set off a pile of fireworks that caused a large explosion.
- Cenat revealed the next day that it was a staged prank using a replica room in a field.
- A Canadian fire chief warns that playing with fireworks like this is dangerous.
- Read on to find out how the prank went down. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Kai Cenat started his July 4 live Twitch stream by taking a bow.
Around the same time, a video dropped on his YouTube channel titled “How I Tricked the Internet with MrBeast.”
The night before, the highly anticipated collaboration between YouTube superstar MrBeast and Cenat, one of Twitch’s largest streamers, had ended with a bang. Literally.
A huge haul of fireworks exploded on screen while thousands watched it live.
The next day, 300,000 viewers tuned in as Cenat revealed that it was a prank.
The fireworks did explode, but it happened on a set in a field and not in Cenat’s house.
But even before the reveal, fans had already started to put it all together.
Eagle-eyed viewers compared the set to Cenat’s real stream room and noticed differences.
“My favourite part of everything was watching you … break down the room,” Cenat said to his viewers on Thursday.
Here’s how the prank went down and why viewers shouldn’t try something like this themselves.
How it happened
The July 3 stream started fairly normally with Cenat and MrBeast hanging out, chatting on camera and promoting MrBeast’s newest chocolate bar flavour.
Notably, a huge pile of fireworks was set up behind them. Last year, AMP, Cenat’s streaming organization, had a huge “firework war” on July 4, the United States’ Independence Day.
The “war” involved shooting the explosives off inside the AMP house, where Cenat and other members of the house live.
In the days leading up to this year’s holiday, they had been teasing it would happen again.
Less than an hour into the stream, one of Cenat’s friends and fellow AMP streamer Davis Dodds came into the room threatening to set the fireworks off and warning MrBeast to get out.
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Davis Dodds, left, Kai Cenat, middle, and MrBeast talk on a set that was created for the fireworks prank on July 3. Dodds was the one who set off the fireworks during the livestream. (Image credit: Kai Cenat/Twitch)
MrBeast left and Dodds set the fireworks off before he and Cenat ran out of the room.
The fireworks exploded creating a white haze that filled the screen before the stream finally ended.
After the stream, Cenat posted a message on X, “I’m done with all this!”
Other AMP streamers who live in the house posted, acting like their home had been blown up.
MrBeast and his team were silent.
Fans became detectives
After the initial shock, fans started to do some detective work.
Many pointed out differences between the background during the MrBeast stream and Cenat’s usual streaming room.
MrBeast is known for building elaborate sets and staging large events. Some theorized that his team built a replica of the room for the stunt. Turns out, they were right.
Fireworks were set off causing an explosion, but it was not inside of Cenat’s actual house.
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A popular X user, FearBuck, was one of many online detectives who posted images comparing the room in the July 3 stream, left, to past Cenat streams, right, even before the prank was revealed. (Image credit: FearBuck/X)
One of the major differences that fans noticed was the door in the back right corner of the screen.
In past Cenat streams, the door has a visible mark that was missing in the MrBeast stream.
On July 4, their suspicions were confirmed. MrBeast’s team had collaborated with AMP to build a replica of Cenat’s room in an open field.
A behind-the-scenes YouTube video showed that Dodds really did set off the fireworks and the replica room was engulfed in flames.
In the ‘How I Tricked the Internet with MrBeast’ video posted to Kai Cenat’s YouTube channel, the replica room can be seen engulfed in flames. The MrBeast team collaborated with AMP to build a fake streaming room to host the prank. (Image credit: Kai Cenat/YouTube)
“That might have gone down as the greatest live prank ever,” Cenat said the next day on stream.
Don’t try this at home, says fire chief
CBC Kids News spoke to the president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, Ken McMullen, who was not impressed with the prank.
He said it showed “pure disrespect for personal safety and the safety of anybody.”
Even though it was a prank, there was still a big explosion.
McMullen said that viewers might copy what they see online with dangerous consequences.
“People will often try to imitate or duplicate pranks like this,” he said.
“The types of explosives that would be in that room would absolutely be enough to injure or kill somebody.”
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During his July 4 stream, Cenat said he could have been banned from Twitch for the stunt.
To prevent that from happening, he said he called his representative at Twitch after the July 3 livestream to tell them it was a prank, but they still warned him not to set off fireworks indoors in the future.
Cenat told viewers that warning won’t stop him and his team from using fireworksin the future.
As of right now, Cenat has not been banned from the platform.
This isn’t the first time Cenat has been in trouble for a stunt.
Last summer, he was accused of starting a riot in New York City and had toapologize.
CBC Kids News reached out to Twitch for comment, but as of the time of publishing has not received a reply.
Cenat’s real room, seen in the July 4 stream, was full of fireworks piled high. He said he had a hard time sleeping the night before because he pictured them exploding.
Cenat’s actual room on July 4 during his live stream where he revealed the prank. The streamer had fireworks piled in his bedroom in preparation for a planned fireworks war. (Image credit: Kai Cenat/Twitch)
McMullen, who is also the chief of emergency services in Red Deer, Alberta, said storing fireworks indoors in a bedroom like that is dangerous.
“That would be like storing a room full of dynamite,” McMullen said. Adding that he “would not step foot into that room.”
“Fireworks are not toys,” he said.
CBC Kids News reached out to AMP and the MrBeast team to comment on the incident but did not receive a response.
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