Shawn Fonteno, the voice of Franklin Clinton in Grand Theft Auto V, says he is finished working with Kai Cenat. On a recent episode of the Dope As Usual podcast, the actor said he will not do another stream with the Twitch star and the reason he gave has nothing to do with ego or money. Rather, it's about principle, particularly a bike.
Fonteno's grievance with Cenat goes back to Cenat's Mafiathon 2 in November 2024, when Fonteno appeared as a guest and later took him around real Los Angeles neighborhoods tied to Franklin's story. During one of those visits, he says, they met a struggling family of around 15 people living in a one-bedroom home. A young boy, a fan, asked Cenat for a motorcycle. According to Fonteno, Cenat told him "we're going to make it happen."
The bike, Fonteno says, never came. He estimated it would have cost around $1,000 to $1,200. He claims he reached out to Cenat and his team repeatedly in the following weeks, hoping to sort it out before Christmas. Unfortunately, he got no response. The child kept asking about it, which Fonteno says stung, since he was the one who brought Cenat to the family's door in the first place.
"I'll never do another stream with him again," Fonteno said on the podcast. He then took a shot at streamers who sit on "millions and millions" but would not follow through for one kid. This is the same Grand Theft Auto actor who has spent over a decade as one of the most visible faces of the series, from Grand Theft Auto Online to his recent turn joining Ned Luke's farewell playthrough.
How the Fonteno-Cenat fallout unfolded
Date | What happened |
|---|---|
November 1-30, 2024 | Kai Cenat's month-long Mafiathon 2 subathon |
November 13, 2024 | Fonteno joined the stream as a guest |
November 20-21, 2024 | Fonteno toured real LA neighborhoods with Cenat; a young fan asked for a bike |
Late November to December 2024 | Fonteno says he followed up for weeks, hoping for it before Christmas |
September 15, 2026 | On the Dope As Usual podcast, Fonteno says he is done streaming with Cenat |
The timeline, with the bike promise and follow-ups based on Fonteno's account.
Fonteno is Franklin, the voice and the motion capture both, and he has stayed close to the character since 2013. He was not a random guest on that stream. He vouched for Cenat by bringing him into the same neighborhoods that Rockstar Games used to bring Los Santos back to life, so he feels the family and that kid were let down on his watch.
Cenat has not publicly responded. There is no way to confirm the details from the outside and this is Fonteno's version of events, told nearly two years after the fact. However, he is on record with a specific figure and a specific reason for cutting ties, giving it credibility and weight.
Whether Cenat ever addresses it or quietly makes it right, Fonteno has made his position clear. He is not doing it again.
This is a shame. Having the voice actor of Clinton, alongside Trevor Philips and Michael de Santa, on stream while he tries to beat Grand Theft Auto VI in one sitting, as he promised, would have been awesome.