At one point, Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm was among the most viewed and most popular streamers on Twitch. But a sudden and unexplained ban in June 2020 saw Doc removed from his longtime streaming platform.
Although the reason for the ban was originally unknown, new details have come to light. As of June 2024, after years of silence, the situation has seen multiple developments—with even Beahm himself confirming the reason for the ban.
How it all started – June 2020
It all began when Twitch banned Beahm on June 26, 2020 ahead of a scheduled stream. In a statement provided to Shannon Liao in 2020, the streaming platform vaguely claimed Beahm violated either the site’s community guidelines or Terms of Service and remarked on the general applicability of its policies. “As is our process, we take appropriate action when we have evidence that a streamer has acted in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service,” Twitch said. “These apply to all streamers regardless of status or prominence in the community.”
This was not Beahm’s first ban. He was previously suspended from Twitch after bringing his camera crew into an E3 bathroom. Doc’s ban also came at a time when a significant number of streamers were being suspended for DMCA violations. But given the severity of Doc’s punishment, it’s unlikely this was the case for him.
Though Doc saw a successful move to YouTube, the streamer made it clear his forced transition to a new platform came at a cost. The former game developer said on stream he was only making a quarter of his previous earnings on Twitch and that the vague nature of his ban led to frayed relations with former sponsors, such as EA and Activision.
The Doc expresses his intention to sue – August 2021
On an Aug. 24, 2021 stream, Beahm revealed he knew the reason behind his permanent ban and intended to sue Twitch for damages to his reputation. “A lot of people ask, ‘do you know the reason?’ I do know the reason why now,” said the former streamer of the year. “I’ve known for months now, the reason why. I’ll just say this right now champs, there’s a reason why we’re suing the fuck out of Twitch.”
While Beahm made his stance against Twitch public, often referring to the site as “the purple snake,” the livestreaming platform made no acknowledgment of the ongoing situation.
The “legal dispute” comes to an end – March 2022
On March 10, 2022, Beahm announced that his legal dispute with Twitch had come to an end. In his ominous statement, he said “I have resolved my legal dispute with Twitch. No party admits to any wrongdoing.” Now “moving on” from the situation, Doc made it clear he had no intention of returning to Twitch.
Allegations resurface – June 2024
On June 21, 2024 ex-Twitch employee Cody Conners posted to X (formerly Twitter) how an unnamed streamer was banned from platform after “sexting a minor in the then existing Twitch whispers product.” He then claimed this streamer attempted to meet up with the minor in question at a TwitchCon event.
Beahm responded to the allegations, denying any wrongdoing. On June 22, he tweeted, saying “all of this has been probed and settled” and that nothing illegal had occurred.
Midnight Society parts ways with Dr Disrespect
During a June 24 broadcast, however, Midnight Society, the gaming studio co-founded by the streamer, came forward with a statement saying it was cutting ties with Beahm. “We assumed his innocence and began speaking with parties involved,” the statement reads. “And in order to maintain our principles and standards as a studio and individuals, we needed to act. For this reason, we are terminating our relationship with Guy Beahm immediately.”
On the same day, Beahm—who had been streaming on YouTube when Midnight Society’s announcement hit live feeds across the globe—said he was “feeling a little fatigued” and burnt out. He then ended the stream, suggesting he would be taking an extended break from streaming.
“Maybe it’s time to start something new, something different,” Beahm said. “Challenge those creative senses, a desire to explore different realms, if you will. But I think first and foremost, though, I did have a planned vacation coming up, and I think I may just extend that, starting now.”
Two separate reports were published on June 24 and June 25 from The Verge and Bloomberg, respectively, citing more sources reiterating the claims made against the streamer. The sources in the reports remained anonymous.
In both reports, sources corroborated claims that Beahm was banned from Twitch due to messages to a minor that included inquiring as to the minor’s plans for a TwitchCon. Bloomberg’s report specifically labeled the messages sent as “sexually explicit.”
Dr Disrespect admits to sending “inappropriate” messages to a minor
On June 25, in a statement released on X, Beahm confirmed he sent “inappropriate” messages to a minor. In the same statement, however, he denied any legal wrongdoing.
“Were there twitch whisper messages with an individual minor back in 2017?” Beahm wrote. “The answer is yes. Were there real intentions behind these messages, the answer is absolutely not. These were casual, mutual conversations that sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate, but nothing more. Nothing illegal happened, no pictures were shared, no crimes were committed, I never even met the individual. I went through a lengthy arbitration regarding a civil dispute with twitch and that case was resolved by a settlement. Let me be clear, it was not a criminal case against me and no criminal charges have ever been brought against me.”
Dr Disrespect returns to streaming, further denies any legal wrongdoing
During a Sept. 6 livestream, Beahm claimed he used the word “minor” in his June 25 statement to try to trick journalists. In the same stream, he further denied sending sexually charged messages to anyone, walking back his previous admission.
“Do you even know what the legal definition of sexting is?” Beahm said. “I do. And yeah, I used Twitch’s Whispers, but trust me, I wasn’t sexting anyone. You also said the word ‘minor,’ and I even made sure that word was emphasized [and] edited in my statement, just to make sure that these so-called ‘journalists’ would pick up on it.”
Beahm also alleged that Twitch’s Trust and Safety Team said the messages exchanged between him and the individual were not sexting. Additionally, Beahm claimed Twitch banned him in 2020 because the platform wanted to afford “two preferable, profitable, and expensive streamers” after the closure of Twitch’s competitor site, Mixer.
Published: Sep 6, 2024 03:49 pm