Twitch CEO Dan Clancy Says Kai Cenat And IShowSpeed Don’t Deserve A Spot On His Hypothetical ‘Mount Rushmore’ Of Streamers
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy is backtracking on his decision to include popular streamers Kai Cenat and IShowSpeed (Darren Jason Watkins Jr.) on the hypothetical Streamer Mount Rushmore.
Clancy was first asked to name his “Mount Rushmore of streamers” during a Mafiathon 3 interview, Kai Cenat’s recent month-long 24-hour Twitch stream. Clancy listed Ninja, IShowSpeed, Pokimane, Kai Cenat, and CohhCarnage. However, in a video making the rounds on social media as of Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, Clancy admits he only included Cenat because he asked, suggesting neither Cenat nor IShowSpeed truly deserves a spot.
“…It probably should be more historical. You know, in other words, Kai is big now, but arguably, it’s like he asked me, so I had to put him on there. But arguably it’s like ‘Look, you’re great, but you can’t be on the Mount Rushmore yet,’” Clancy said.
Clancy added that certain streamers will feel upset and left out, regardless of who you pick.
“Part of it is, you just don’t remember people. Initially, I mentioned Speed, and I swapped Speed out for CaseOh. Of course, all the idgets on Twitter were like ‘He doesn’t even know there are only four folks on Mount Rushmore.’ No, I know that,” he continued.
Cenat And Speed’s Rise In Streaming
Several people have taken issue with Clancy’s comments, pointing out that both Cenat and Speed are under 30, have each amassed over a million subscribers on Twitch, and have had a significant impact on the streaming landscape.
As AFROTECH™ previously reported, IShowSpeed made his first $1 million at just 16 years old, with his first major purchase being a house for his mother. Today, he boasts an impressive 44.8 million subscribers on one of his YouTube channels alone and 41.1 million followers on Instagram.
“My sophomore year, I just kind of gave up on school … I kind of gave up on everything that I had to my old life and just put everything on my stream. I streamed every day. I didn’t care about nothing else but Youtube streaming,” Speed shared in an interview on the “Club Shay Shay” podcast.
As for Cenat, he dropped out of college to pursue his dreams — a decision that helped him become one of the most influential streamers and content creators, AFROTECH™ previously reported. In early 2023, he made history as the first Black Twitch streamer to reach 200,000 subscribers.
Cenat — who has 13.9 million YouTube subscribers, 20.1 million TikTok followers, and 16.2 million Instagram followers — ranks No. 28 on Forbes’ 2025 Top Creators list, with an estimated $8.5 million in earnings as of June 16, 2025.
While he puts immense effort into his work, Cenat emphasized on “Club Shay Shay” that he doesn’t consider streaming harder than a traditional 9-to-5 job, as AFROTECH™ previously reported.
“Anybody who says streaming is harder than a 9-to-5 is an idiot,” Cenat told host Shannon Sharpe.
“I work so hard on my streams, it takes a lot of hard work, there’s a lot of planning. You got to be in front of a camera for dozens of hours. I understand that, it’s hard. But harder than a 9-to-5? You’re talking about somebody that may not even want to be there,” he added. “I love streaming. I think about it all the time… The average 9-to-5 worker don’t want to be there,” he continued.
