Pointe-de-Contes. Deserted place. Calm after the storm of the morning of August 18, where the Samu, the firefighters and the gendarmes arrived in force, before 10 am that day, breaking the apparent tranquility of this corner of the Peillon valley, in the town of Tales, a few kilometers from Nice.
Behind the green gate, an old industrial building stands out. It is there that Raphaël Graven, alias Jean Pormanove, made his last breath, on the net, in full live, on the rather confidential video platform Kick.
Followed by hundreds of thousands of people, “JP” was known to participate in live streaming in which he suffered violence and humiliations. He was 46 years old. He lived about two kilometers from his filming location, in the town of Drap, Condamine district.
According to our information, his family arrives in the Alpes-Maritimes on Saturday.
A squat decorated with blood and excrement
In front of the room of the room which served as a stream filming studio and its acolytes, two flower pots were discreetly deposited. No ostentatious tribute. A thousand leagues from the notoriety on the Internet.
“National gendarmerie. Sealed. Do not open” mention the red signaling ribbons which prevent entering the building. And to climb to the first floor, frame of their “live” on their channel called Lelokaltv.
A kind of squat, with a beautiful area, comprising several rooms. Parts in a state of advanced dirt and decorated in such a doubt as the content of the videos, with traces of blood or excrement on the walls …
The stories where JP died. Photo Justine Meddah.
“Nature of the offense: DDC, discovery of corpse. Case: Graven R.”, Can we still read on the seals affixed by the police.
The business of violence and humiliation
Monday morning, when the streamers have been filming for more than 298 hours, without discontinuing, several Internet users were worried about the state of Jean Pormanove, inert for long minutes, in a bed, rolled up in a white duvet, where only her livid face and her hair colored in bright red protrudes.
One of his companions throws a bottle on him. No movement. Another rises and jostles it: “JP”, “JP”, he says several times. No reaction. He then approaches the camera and seems to cut the video. Since then, chilling extracts of this death, revealed live, have become viral on social networks.
Glauch entertainment, viewed by thousands of people. And funded by thousands of people. On the images, in addition to the time counter spent in “live”, another counter appears: that of the money gathered since the beginning of the challenge which had lasted for more than 12 days: more than 36,000 euros. Donations from Internet users.
The video of videographers had set up a real business of which “JP” was, it seems, the scapegoat. At the limit between consent and abuse of weakness?
Created in 2022, Kick, the platform on which the Lelokaltv team had migrated, offers a much more advantageous remuneration policy than its competitors, transferring 95% of the revenues generated – donations or subscriptions – to content creators against 50% elsewhere. It also displays a much less strict moderation than on other platforms.
“He was so nice”, “success was like revenge”
“I am the same age as him”breath Christelle. This cloth knew a little “Raphaël”. “He was so nice”she said, still in shock from the sad news. Sometimes she played balls with him, on the pétanque field of the Condamine.
“He was someone introverted, reserved but very sociable. He was happy with his notoriety, he told me that he was loved that and that he lived his best life”recalls the forties. “I asked him one day why he made these videos”. She didn’t really have an answer … According to her, the content creator burned her life by both ends. He smoked. A lot. And drank an astronomical quantity of energy drinks “To hold on without sleeping”according to another source that requested anonymity.
“It doesn’t make good cleaning”whisper Christelle. And then, the cloth is angry with those who downloaded the images. “They rest on the networks and make money on it, it’s very shocking”. Out of respect for him, she even tried to warn Tiktok so that the terrible video is not monetized.
Karim (1) also knew “JP”. He too is a child “from the neighborhood”. “He hurt me. I don’t know if he was really happy with all of this”adds the young man.
Often he spoke with the victim. “Once he told me that ultimately it was cheap to be recognized in the street and to win rounds. He was 6000 euros per month on average, he told me that it was like revenge”jure-t- “He hadn’t had an easy life, there he finally felt like he was enjoying”continues Karim. “He went in a box, he was going to drink in old Nice”concludes his neighbor.
