Live streamer in China dies after excessive consumption of alcohol in drinking battle
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Wang’s death once again turns the spotlight on how some live streamers perform dangerous stunts to earn more monetary “gifts” from viewers.
PHOTOS: SCREENGRAB FROM 水娃说事/YOUTUBE
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A live streamer in China lost drinking battles against others and then lost his life after drinking yet more alcohol as a forfeit.
Surnamed Wang but more popularly known by his online moniker Brother Three Thousand, the live streamer based in Jiangsu was found dead in his apartment on May 16, a friend told Chinese media.
He was last seen the previous night in one of his videos online, chugging four bottles of the potent baijiu, a colourless Chinese clear grain liquor with an alcohol content that ranges from 35 per cent to 60 per cent.
In his final stream on the video-sharing platform Douyin, the 34-year-old can be seen pouring out some baijiu onto a table and lighting it on fire, seemingly to show its authenticity, before chugging the rest of the bottle. He did the same with another three bottles in quick succession, reportedly as a forfeit after losing drinking battles with other streamers, with the competition based on the speed and quantity of drinking.
Mr Wang’s viewers said he drank at least seven bottles of a popular baijiu that night.
One of Mr Wang’s friends – a man known as Mr Zhao, who was seen in his past videos feasting and drinking with Wang – told Chinese media that the live streamer’s lifeless body was found at around 1pm on May 16, around 12 hours after the final streamed video. Mr Zhao suspected his friend had also been drinking before he started the streaming.
Mr Wang was cremated on Saturday, Chinese media reported. In a video that Mr Zhao shared to mourn him, he wished “there would be no (live-stream) challenges and baijiu in heaven”.
Mr Wang had multiple accounts on the video-sharing platform shut down, likely for reasons related to his online boozing. Douyin bans content creators from drinking during their live streams. But Mr Wang would create new accounts – his latest had around 44,000 followers.
In an earlier video, he could be heard promising to consume a large amount of baijiu once donations from viewers reached the target he set.
Mr Wang’s death, apparently as a result of his binge-drinking live streams, once again turns the spotlight on how some live streamers perform dangerous stunts in efforts to earn more monetary “gifts” from their viewers.
In 2021, a Chinese influencer died after being egged on by her viewers to drink pesticide in a live stream.
