Kai Cenat's 'Mafiathon 2' Stream: What Happened With Max Major?

Editor's Warning: This post includes descriptions of self-harm and suicide.

Kai Cenat says he and his team were blindsided by Max Major's staged hanging on his Mafiathon 2 subathon on Tuesday night.

Major, who describes himself as a “mind hacker” and “mentalist,” enlisted the popular streamer for an elaborate-seeming stunt that ultimately resulted in widely questioned imagery of a staged hanging.

Several nooses were visible in the outdoor stunt, with Major asking Cenat to make a pick. Major, meanwhile, stood on a platform while communicating with Cenat and his team, including special guest Sexyy Red.

“When the sandbag goes, the rope goes,” said Major. “That one was one in three. You follow?” Kai responded, “N***a, I can’t kill you,” to which Major offered, “Kai, there’s two handles left, there’s two ropes left. It’s 50-50.”

From there, Major said they were going to “play this game one more time,” albeit with “a little bit more on the line.”

Major was then seen having one of the nooses put around his neck, which shocked Cenat and others. Later, Cenat initiated a countdown before ultimately pulling a handle, with screams erupting from Cenat and company as Major briefly appeared in a hanged position. Cenat was then heard telling his camera crew to not show the imagery, as well as expressing concern over being potentially banned for it.

“Is he good?” Cenat later asked.

Efforts were made to get Major back on the stream to offer an apology as backlash to the stunt started to build on social media. A rep for Major was also tracked down on the property and pressed by Cenat to get Major back on the stream to no avail.

Meanwhile, Major shared a video to his YouTube detailing what he says led up to the stunt in question.

“If you’re watching this, that means that something has gone terribly wrong,” Major, who has also appeared on Cenat’s stream in the past, said in the video. “But what you don’t know is that was all according to my plan. See, at the start of my performance I said that tonight was all about choices. But not just the choices that you made tonight, but the choices that you made since the day we met.”

Major continued, “From the first time we met, you pushed me, you challenged me, you wanted to see me fail. So I thought tonight I’d give you exactly what you asked for. You see, you thought the game was for me to influence you to make the right choice, while all along I planned to influence you to make the wrong choice. I knew you’d pick the red handle. Even when it feels like you’re playing a game of chance, you have to remember who you’re playing against because I decide who wins or loses.”

As for Cenat, he repeatedly relayed to the chat that he and his team had been expecting a totally different stunt, explaining they were unaware that a staged hanging was going to take place.

An alleged text from Major to Cenat was also read for the chat. In it, according to Cenat, Major said to “let the story be what it is” and seemingly referred to himself as “the bad guy” in the situation.

“He finessed, chat,” said Cenat, later in Tuesday night’s stream. “Chat, no more magic on this motherfucker, chat. … Sometimes some shit gon’ happen to you and it is what it is.”

Cenat also thanked those who were defending him on social media amid criticism of Major’s stunt, particularly those who “watched this whole thing” and knew what was happening. In Cenat's words, Major “fucked up” with this stunt, which quite clearly changed the tone of Tuesday night’s stream and was swiftly made the subject of misleading posts on X.

“It’s just the devil, bro,” the two-time Streamer of the Year winner said later. “You can’t have good days back to back to back to back to back. It’s literally the devil. It’s sick.”

While the stunt appeared to be widely criticized on social media, fans were also quick to defend Cenat, specifically, given his claims of not having full knowledge of the circumstances of the stunt prior to what transpired. Questions were also raised about the vetting process for stream cameos of this nature.

As of this writing, formal statements on the controversy have not been issued by Cenat or Major, and this post will be updated if they do. Cenat's Twitch showed that he was sleeping at time of publication.