Kai Cenat Rejected A$AP Rocky’s Puma Gifts: ‘I Can’t Do This, I’m Nike’
When it comes to Christmas presents, they say it’s the thought that counts, but Kai Cenat was less than pleased with FNAA Collaboration of the Year winner A$AP Rocky’s gift oversight.
While opening gifts for the holiday, the top-watched Twitch streamer unboxed a package from the rapper containing Puma sneakers and apparel.
“A$AP Rocky! Puma? I’m checks over…I’m checks over tigers,” Cenat said, referencing Drake’s “checks over stripes” lyric from Travis Scott’s 2018 song “Sicko Mode.”
“I’m [team] Nike,” Cenat said. “I can’t have no Puma. Come on. Damn, man. No way A$AP. A$AP, I can’t do this, I’m Nike. I’m putting this to the side. The opps pulled up, Puma tried it. Puma, you really tried it knowing I’m Nike, Puma. Puma, really, Puma? I’m Nike, you really tried that?”
Cenat announced in February 2024 he had signed a deal with Nike. “I would like to announce that we are officially a part of the Nike family. This has been a long time waiting,” he said in February. In September, he also helped the brand launch its Air Max 1 “Low Poly” sneaker, which he debuted.
The A$AP Rocky x Puma mix-up isn’t the first time Cenat has realized the limitations of a brand deal. In October, he unboxed a shipment of sneakers from Asics on his stream before realizing the brand would be considered a Nike competitor, thus putting his deal in jeopardy. “Asics is not an athletic brand, right? They’re just shoes,” he said. “It is an athletic brand, but is it a Nike competitor? Oh my god, I think it is.”
While Cenat’s rejection of A$AP Rocky’s gift was likely a moment of good-hearted fun, it’s unlikely fans will see the superstar streamer in a pair of Inhale sneakers any time soon.