Social media influencer Jack Doherty has been defended by his brother, who claims he crashed his $300,000 supercar because of a “puddle”, not because he was distracted filming a live broadcast.
Jack, 20, was driving his customized McLaren 570S on Sunday when he crashed into a barrier on a highway in Miami before being dragged out of the window while his friend held his bleeding head in the passenger seat.
At the time of the accident, Jack was streaming live on Kick to 185,000 followers. Video footage shows him driving one-handed at high speed in pouring rain and looking at his phone minutes before crashing into a barrier.
But his brother Michael, who was following in another car, denied he had been distracted by the live broadcast, insisting the accident was caused by the McLaren’s tendency to hydroplan in wet weather.
“At the time of the accident I was not on the phone,” the 22-year-old told DailyMail.com exclusively. ‘That was a few minutes before. I know a lot of the clips show him being in it. But that was, I would say, a minute or two before.
Jack Doherty, 20, crashed his $300,000 McLaren supercar on a wet road in Miami while livestreaming to 185,000 fans on Kick (photo of Jack inside his car after the accident)
Jack’s brother Michael Doherty, 22 (right), told DailyMail.com that his brother was not broadcasting live when he crashed and that the accident was caused by a “puddle”.
“What really happened was he hit a bag of water, and McLarens are quite famous for spinning.” He hydroplaned into the barrier and overcorrected, which is someone’s first instinct.
“When you’re hydroplaning, you want to correct in the opposite direction, and that caused it to spin.”
When asked if he truly believed his brother was not distracted while filming in the sports car, he admitted: “True, I mean, there was definitely an aspect of distraction, but I mean the main aspect of what caused the accident was the water”. the road that caused him to hydroplan.
‘I guess he didn’t realize that or didn’t see that puddle. And that’s what happened.’
Jack managed to escape unharmed, but his friend Michael David, who was sitting in the passenger seat, could be seen with blood running down his face and had to be taken to hospital.
But not before Jack handed him the camera and said, ‘Michael, here. Film on that phone too.
Footage from the live stream shows Jack handing his camera to his brother. He asked his brother to film him being dragged out of the car window after the accident while repeatedly commenting on the state of his car.
Michael seemed to downplay his friend’s injuries, saying they weren’t as bad as they seemed.
‘At the time of the accident he was not talking on the phone. “That was a few minutes before,” said Michael (photo taken of Jack’s wrecked car after the accident)
“What really happened was he hit a bag of water, and McLarens are famous for spinning,” Michael said (screenshot from Jack’s livestream moments before the accident).
The YouTuber’s friend, Michael David, who was sitting in the passenger seat, had a bloody face and had to be taken to the hospital (photo taken from the live broadcast).
“He saw that he was not seriously injured,” he said. ‘As if he wasn’t dying. Of course, he was injured. I had some eye injuries and that’s when I told Jack to hand me the camera so I could go get treatment. And, you know, he went and they treated him.
According to Michael, his brother learned his lesson and his parents “scolded” him. He said he won’t play with supercars again and definitely won’t livestream while driving.
“Me, my mom, my dad, our whole family gave him a big telling off,” Michael said.
‘He learned his lesson 100 percent. I mean, on camera it’s very different than when it’s off camera. As soon as the camera went off, she started crying.
‘We were all crying. I was crying to him and told him: “I don’t want to bury my brother.” This could be a totally different result. I think it struck a chord a little bit.’
He added: ‘He wants to get rid of his cars now, and he even, you know, said to my dad: “You know you were right about the cars.” “They are dangerous and they are not just a toy.” “He learned his lesson without having to die,” Michael insisted.
Michael said he doesn’t think his brother should have his license revoked, saying having his car taken away has already affected his income.
“I don’t think they should take away his license, but I think he already learned a big lesson when they took away his car and took away his source of income.”
Jack accompanied his passenger to the hospital and shared this photo on Instagram. Michael told DailyMail.com: ‘He saw he was not seriously injured. As if I were not dying’
Jack has since been banned from Kick for violating safety guidelines, which some believe relates to him being seen reading the live chat section of his stream while driving just seconds before the accident.
Jack, originally from Long Island, New York, but now living in Los Angeles, California, has 14.9 million subscribers on YouTube.
He gained a large following, mostly teenagers, for his pranks, stunts, and challenge videos that are often filmed in public places, such as his Floor is Lava challenges at Walmart and Target.
Jack recently received backlash for allegedly getting angry at people in order to provide sexy content before running to hide behind his security guards to prevent the people he is provoking from touching him.
Earlier this year, Jack and his bodyguard, Kane Kongg, were served with legal papers and are being sued by a man who claimed to have been beaten by Kongg, whose legal name is Justin Goslee.
The car accident comes 10 months after Jack overturned a golf cart while his girlfriend was in the passenger seat and posted the footage to his YouTube channel.
His brother Michael, an openly gay influencer in his own right, has a large following on his Onlyfans.
