Kai Cenat Fires Back At Lawsuit Claiming Bodyguard Cuddy “Punched And Assaulted” Someone
A man named Dustin Batista is suing Cenat and his bodyguard, Lamont 'Cuddy' Gilbert, claiming he got beaten up at New York’s Dominican Day Parade in 2025.
Black News 
As Kai Cenat dips back into the world of streaming after an extended hiatus, he’s been hit with a lawsuit.
Back in July, TMZ revealed that a man named Dustin Batista is suing Cenat and his bodyguard, Lamont ‘Cuddy’ Gilbert, claiming he got beaten up at New York’s Dominican Day Parade in 2025.
Batista claims that when he ran into Cenat’s crew at the festivities, the bodyguard took his job title too seriously and “struck, punched, and assaulted him.”
The alleged victim says it wasn’t warranted because he didn’t “threaten, attack, provoke, consent to contact with, or otherwise justify the attack.”
So he’s suing Gilbert for assault and battery, and since Kai is his employer, he’s suing him for vicarious liability and negligent hiring.
Now, Cenat has fired back with a filing of his own claiming Gilbert started the dispute.
The streamer says Gilbert was the “initial aggressor” and claims he “initiated, provoked, caused and/or escalated the physical confrontation.”
Cenat’s also facing another lawsuit this summer because of his Streamer University initiative.
Before gathering some up-and-coming streamers for a week-long streaming event on a real college campus, he held in-person application events, kicking off with one at New York City’s John Jay College before heading to Atlanta and California.
One attendee, Caleb Gottfried aka SNVRK, says the New York City summer heat got the best of him and he nearly suffered two heat strokes. He also claims his image was used as “background talent” in a commercial without his consent because he never signed a waiver or release.
He blamed the alleged near-heatstroke on “negligent crowd control and total failure to provide standard safety and ventilation measures” at the event, so he’s suing for more than $330,000 in damages.
Since taking a break from streaming, Cenat has focused more on his Vivet clothing line. He recently announced he’s organizing the brand’s first fashion show just in time for New York Fashion Week.
But see social media’s reaction to the lawsuit below.
