Streamers Aren't Holding Back On Jack Doherty's Car Crash Controversy

Streamer and content creator Jack Doherty crashed his car over the weekend and reminded everyone of a very important lesson: Don't text and drive. Now other streamers are commenting on the situation, mostly to roast Doherty for being so wildly irresponsible. Doherty was live on Kick on October 5 when the crash happened. His friend and cameraman, Michael, continued filming for the stream while Doherty drove his brand new McLaren down the highway through the rain. At multiple points in the stream, viewers noticed Doherty taking his eyes off the road to check his phone. Doherty stepped on the gas and his car hydroplaned, veering out of control into the next lane of traffic, and slamming into the guardrail on the side of the road.

The car was instantly totaled, but luckily no one was seriously injured in the crash. Even casual fans tend to recognize that streaming is secretly a dangerous job, but this isn't the type of danger anyone typically expects from a streaming career. As the story of Doherty's crash spread online, people began weighing in on both the circumstances surrounding the crash and his response in the aftermath. 

You'd imagine that the car crash itself would be the peak of this controversial story, but somehow it's only the beginning. Jack Doherty is getting almost as much criticism for his reaction to the crash as he is getting for causing the accident in the first place. In clips from the stream, Doherty and Michael can be heard panicking about being stuck in the car right after the crash. They briefly discussed shooting out the windows to escape the vehicle, but thankfully some people helped them get out of the car without going to that kind of extreme.

After getting out of the wreckage, viewers have noted that Doherty asked Michael to keep filming, even though the cameraman can clearly be seen bleeding from a head injury. More of Doherty's friends arrived on the scene around the same time as the police and paramedics, but viewers have noted that Doherty seems more concerned with the damage done to his car. As the rain pours down, Doherty strips off his shirt, keeps complaining about how his car is totaled, and tries to get as much footage on as many phones as possible. All of this happened live on Kick, and even though the platform has been called shady in the past, it decided to clamp down hard on this kind of behavior. Doherty's been banned from streaming on Kick, and the audience reactions seem to suggest that he might have some trouble picking things back up on another platform.

Jack Doherty actually made a post on X that included clips from his stream (as well as a lengthier version on his YouTube channel). The post was quickly covered in community notes pointing out that Doherty's team seemingly cut the clips to hide the fact that he'd been speeding down the road while on his phone. 

Crashed my McLaren... glad we're both ok🙏❤️ pic.twitter.com/Rn3u961Rqp

— Jack Doherty (@dohertyjackk) October 5, 2024

A scroll through the comments on that post will show you just how unhappy most people are with Doherty right now. In particular, other streamers have been speaking up about the incident, with some, like Nadeshot, calling for Doherty to face jail time.

This guy deserves jail time. Honestly couldn't believe what I watched when I made it to the end of this video. I'm not a fan of cancel culture but this kid needs to be demonetized from every platform imaginable at bare minimum. https://t.co/ZCwHHeO4ZR

— 100T Nadeshot (@Nadeshot) October 6, 2024

On his own stream, Asmongold watched clips from Doherty's crash and poked fun at him for seemingly being more concerned about the damage to his expensive car than his friend's injury. "I'm sure State Farm or Geico love Kick streamers," he joked. "They can see [the footage], they'll be like, 'Yeah, you were on the phone while you were driving.'" xQc also weighed in on the incident, and he was extremely bothered by Doherty's obsession with filming the accident. Referring to a movie in which Jake Gyllenhaal plays a corrupt stringer who sells footage of gruesome crimes, xQc said, "This is weird. This is the 'Nightcrawler' in real time ... The other guy is injured, and he's asking him to film!"

Sneako also had a visceral reaction to the footage, arguing that Doherty appeared to be "thinking about clip farming" instead of the near-death experience. Corinna Kopf echoed similar sentiments on her X account:

your friends face is gushing blood but you make sure he stays filming from all angles.... nice https://t.co/Z1ef18PrSk

— corinna kopf (@CorinnaKopf) October 5, 2024

Some streaming bans have torn communities apart, but a number of content creators seem to agree that Doherty at least deserves the permanent Kick ban for this episode. It remains to be seen if the incident will have further consequences. However, it's worth noting that fellow streamer and Kick shareholder Adin Ross teased that he could reinstate Doherty's account for a fee of $300,000. Whatever the case, this controversy appears to be far from settled.