Rewind to 2017: Herschel “Guy” Beahm IV, known online as Dr Disrespect, was the face of Twitch. He was one of the most-watched streamers online and had landed a major exclusivity deal with Twitch. There seemed to be no stopping the Doc. However, in June 2020, Twitch permabanned Dr Disrespect without warning. For the past four years, the internet has been left in the dark about why he was banned. Now, we know, and the confirmation is coming from Dr Disrespect himself.
Initial allegations
Cody Conners, a former employee of Twitch, recently claimed that Dr Disrespect was banned for trying to meet a minor at TwitchCon and “sexting” her on Twitch’s private messaging app, Whispers. Bloomberg later quoted three unnamed sources confirming Conners’ allegation. According to two sources, Beahm had asked the minor what her plans were for TwitchCon in 2017.
Dr Disrespect initially responded to these allegations by saying that neither Twitch nor he acknowledged any wrongdoing. He emphasized that the dispute was resolved with Twitch years ago and insisted that nothing unlawful had happened.
“To maintain our principles and standards as a studio and individuals, we needed to act,” the statement read. “While these facts are difficult to hear and even more difficult to accept, it is our duty to act with dignity on behalf of all individuals involved, especially the fifty-five developers and families we have employed along with our community of players.”
Midnight Society cuts ties with Dr Disrespect
Although Dr Disrespect denied any wrongdoing and said Twitch had paid out his whole contract despite the ban, the majority of the creator community chastised him for his response. One of those critics was popular Twitch streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker.
“In a situation like this … if there’s no alleged misconduct that took place, you don’t just say, ‘Oh, we settled,’” Piker said in a livestream.
In response to the allegations, Midnight Society, a game studio co-founded by Dr Disrespect, decided to sever ties with him. The studio defended its decision in an official statement, saying that while it had initially believed Beahm was innocent, it felt it was important to preserve its standards and values.
Robert Bowling, also a co-founder of Midnight Society, wrote, “If you inappropriately message a minor. I can not work with you. Period. I promised to only act on facts, and I did.”
Dr Disrespect’s statement
Shortly after Beahm was dropped by Midnight Society, he issued a statement on X/Twitter admitting to sending inappropriate messages to a minor while denying any illegal activity or predatory behavior.
“Were there Twitch Whisper messages with an individual minor back in 2017? The answer is yes,” Beahm wrote. “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, and I never even met the individual.”
Beahm further clarified, “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.” However, Beahm acknowledged his moral responsibility for the conversations. “Now, from a moral standpoint, I’ll absolutely take responsibility. I should have never entertained these conversations to begin with.”
Additionally, Beahm claims that Midnight Society’s decision to cut him from the company was mutual, stating he didn’t want to “jeopardize the culture we have carefully crafted.”
At the end of the statement, Beahm says he will continue to stream, even with the likely backlash he will receive. “I’m not f—ing going anywhere. I’m not the same guy that made this mistake all those years ago,” he said, later stating he would take an extended vacation with his family before returning to streaming.
What the future holds for Dr Disrespect
Even though Dr Disrespect has received much backlash from the creator community and viewers and has lost tens of thousands of followers on YouTube and Twitter (spotted by Insider Gaming), the Doc still has support among many in his community. These allegations will undoubtedly hurt him, but will it be enough to kill his career? That’s still to be seen. Although Beahm has confirmed he sent “inappropriate” messages to a minor, there is still speculation about what those messages actually said. Many say Twitch wouldn’t have permabanned one of their biggest streamers without it being serious. However, without the actual messages, it’s all speculation at this point.
It is unknown when Dr Disrespect will return to streaming, but it appears he’s set on returning despite the backlash. Undoubtedly, everyone’s eyes will be on his next move, supporters or not.
