YouTuber, streamer, and influencer Jack Doherty has been banned for life from Kick, after crashing a $200,000 sports car into a guardrail while looking at his phone, all on livestream (via NBC News). Doherty, who has just under 15 million subscribers on YouTube, is known for prank videos and Mr. Beast-style money stunts.
Clips of the stream remain in circulation, and show Doherty behind the wheel of a McLaren 570S on the highway. It’s raining, which should make any driver more cautious, but instead Doherty is travelling at extremely high speed while checking his phone repeatedly. The car begins to hydroplane, losing its traction on the road surface and leaving Doherty without control over the steering and brakes, at which point he’s heard shouting “whoah no no no!” The McLaren narrowly avoids colliding with several other vehicles before crashing into a guardrail on the right-hand side of the road.
We know what happened in the aftermath because Doherty uploaded clips of it. He released a video of himself shouting for help from inside the car just after the crash. As people help Doherty out of the wreck, he asks one to hold the camera for him.
Doherty’s immediate concern seems to be the car he’s just totalled, rather than his injured cameraman who’s been in the passenger seat, and is clutching his arm and has a bleeding head wound. One clip shows Doherty whining about the car while handing the wounded cameraman a phone, saying ““Michael, here. Michael, do you have your—film on that one, too.” Doherty would also post a later clip of the pair in hospital, where the cameraman’s wounds were being stitched up.
Jack Doherty just crashed his brand new McLaren on stream 😳 https://t.co/WNnKGbmHbDOctober 5, 2024
The main clip of the crash travelled widely online at the weekend, and on Saturday Doherty’s account was permanently banned from Kick. A spokesperson said Kick “does not condone illegal activity, which is why we swiftly took action to ban this creator from the platform.”
Kick’s safety policies notably address exactly the kind of behaviour Doherty displayed after the crash: “Prioritize safety for yourself, your audience, the public and anyone else involved. If someone is in danger or needs help, turn your camera away and contact local EMS immediately.”
Once beyond the immediate aftermath, and having presumably spoken to a grown-up, Doherty began posting clips edited to remove him looking at his phone. He also posted something of an apology: “It’s been 24 hours since the accident and I just want to say how grateful I am that Michael and I are alive,” said Doherty. “I’m so sorry Michael for putting you thru that. Thank you to all the first responders and everyone who helped us get out of the car. This could’ve been so much worse and it’s a huge learning lesson.”
Doherty has subsequently posted a video of the wrecked car in his front yard, amongst his collection of other vehicles. He also videoed himself giving the cameraman involved in the crash a brand-new jetski.
Incredibly, this is not the first time the influencer has crashed vehicles on video. This March he shared a video of his flipping a Can-Am off-road vehicle, showing a photo of his injured arm and asking viewers whether he should go to hospital.
In November last year, he crashed a golf cart with his girlfriend, with the vehicle ending up on top of her. Doherty at least apologises in that case as he’s trying to move the cart off her, before adding “I literally thought I just broke your fucking neck. I tried to hold it. Golf cart’s fine, though.” He posted this video with the title “I flipped a golf cart on my girlfriend!” and it has just under a million views.
This charmer also posted a video in June 2023 bragging about his acquisition of the McLaren involved in this incident, saying it cost more than $200,000, and joking he’s going to “crash this car, mark my words.”
Even by the sociopathic standards of contemporary influencers, this is incredible behaviour. Doherty has just survived a crash, caused by his reckless driving, that narrowly avoided being catastrophic, and injured his colleague, possibly seriously. His reaction to this is to treat it as content and attempt to involve both rescuers and victims in recording video for him to later post.
Kick may have made the right call here, but other platforms and a huge audience remain open to Doherty. Perhaps the major streaming and video platforms should have some sort of reciprocal ban arrangement in place for such extreme behaviour. Because the way this guy is going, he’s going to end up killing someone. And then no doubt take some footage of the aftermath.