The President of the Philippines called out Kick star Vitaly’s behavior as the streamer faces years in jail for his antics in the country.
Vitaly Zdorovetskiy was arrested on April 3 after a series of controversial Kick streams, in which he appeared to harass locals, steal, attempted to kiss a security guard, tried to seize a firearm and much more.
Ahead of his trial, which could take years, Vitaly is being kept in jail and isn’t receiving any special treatment. As such, he’s reportedly in a shared cell, eating the same cheap food every day, and has to live without AC even in temperatures averaging 97 degrees.
Vitaly’s antics sparked backlash across the country – and even Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr, the President of the Philippines weighed in, promising that such behavior wouldn’t be tolerated.
Vitaly’s “infuriating behavior” slammed by President of the Philippines
In a statement shared by the Philippine Star, the President called Vitaly “crazy” and said he was furious at the streamer.
“One of the things we saw this Sunday was the infuriating behavior of a foreign vlogger toward our fellow citizens. Whether he was joking or not, what Filipino wouldn’t feel their blood boil watching that?” Marcos Jr rhetorically asked.
Furthermore, he issued a stark warning to other potential nuisance streamers who come into the country just to cause trouble.
“Expect that those who do such things — we will not let them continue doing that,” he added. “We need to stand up to bullies, and the government is with you in exposing people like this.”
The response to Vitaly’s behavior has been swift and shows that the country won’t take a laissez-faire approach to nuisance streams. So far, Zdorovetskiy is facing three counts of unjust vexation in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act, two cases of theft and one charge of attempted theft.
In contrast, South Korea has slowly been ramping up charges against infamous creator Johnny Somali, who caused chaos across the country. The streamer is now facing major jail time for alleged crimes such as creating AI deepfakes and child sexual harassment.
