Guy Beahm, better known by his streamer persona Dr Disrespect, said he was banned from Twitch four years ago due to private messages he sent to a minor that “sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate.”
Technology
Dr Disrespect finally shares why he was banned from Twitch
Guy Beahm, better known as Dr Disrespect, has made a statement regarding what led to his permanent ban from Twitch four years ago.
Beahm shared details of the ban in a lengthy post to X, marking the first time he’s directly addressed the reason for his removal.
“Everyone has been wanting to know why I was banned from Twitch, but for reasons outside of my control, I was not allowed to say anything for the last several years,” Beahm posted on X. “Now that two former twitch employees have publicly disclosed the accusations, I can now tell you my side of the story regarding the ban.”
“I should have never entertained these conversations to begin with.”
On Friday, a former Twitch employee posted to X that Beahm was banned because he “got caught sexting a minor.” Another former Twitch employee told The Verge that Beahm was banned over messages sent to a minor that discussed meeting up at TwitchCon. The reports offered the first details of Beahm’s ban since it was issued in 2020.
In his statement, Beahm says that there were messages between him and an unnamed minor back in 2017. Beahm says there were no “real intentions” behind the messages, no pictures were shared, and the two never met.
“I should have never entertained these conversations to begin with,” Beahm writes.
Beahm had signed a two-year exclusivity contract to stream on Twitch just months before he was removed from the platform. At the time, he was one of Twitch’s biggest stars, with around 4 million followers. Twitch never commented on the ban, and Beahm at times indicated that even he didn’t know why he was removed from the platform.
In his statement today, Beahm says that he went into arbitration with Twitch to settle the dispute over his exclusivity contract. He previously said that “no wrongdoing was acknowledged, and they paid out the whole contract.”
Beahm’s game studio has cut ties with him
There has been considerable fallout for Beahm since the details emerged. Yesterday, Midnight Society, a video game studio Beahm co-founded in 2021, announced that it ended its relationship with the creator. In a post on X, Robert Bowling, studio head at Midnight Society, wrote, “If you inappropriately message a minor. I can not work with you.” Turtle Beach, the gaming peripheral manufacturer, has also announced it has severed ties with Beahm. In a statement to The Verge, Maclean Marshall, Turtle Beach’s senior director of global communications, wrote, “We will not be continuing our partnership with Guy Beahm/DrDisRespect.”
After his ban from Twitch, Beahm resumed his streaming career on YouTube and has garnered more than 4.7 million subscribers there. Yesterday, at the end of a stream, Beahm said that he was “fatigued” and considering an extended break from streaming. However, in today’s statement, Beahm appeared defiant and said that he would resume streaming after a vacation with his family.
The Verge has reached out to Twitch and Beahm for comment.
Here’s Beahm’s full statement as posted to X as of 2:23PM ET:
THE TWITCH BAN
Hello, I’d like to make a quick statement..
Lets cut the fucking bullshit, as you know there’s no filter with me. I’ve always been up front and real with you guys on anything that I can be up front about, and I’m always willing to accept responsibility... which is why I’m here now.
First and foremost I do want to apologize to everyone in my community as well as those close to me, my team, and everyone at Midnight Society Game Studio.
A lot of people have been left in the dark about what happened yesterday with midnight society and I, and we made the painful decision collectively, to have me step down. Our team is full of incredibly talented and good people that have high career ambitions and families and i’d never want jeopardize the culture we have carefully crafted.
Everyone has been wanting to know why I was banned from twitch, but for reasons outside of my control, I was not allowed to say anything for the last several years. Now that two former twitch employees have publicly disclosed the accusations, I can now tell you my side of the story regarding the ban.
Were there twitch whisper messages with an individual minor back in 2017? 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.
Now, from a moral standpoint I’ll absolutely take responsibility. I should have never entertained these conversations to begin with. That’s on me. That’s on me as an adult, a husband and a father. It should have never happened. I get it. I’m not perfect and I’ll fucking own my shit. This was stupid.
Now, with all this said, don’t get it fucking mistaken, I’ve seen all the remarks and labels being throw around so loosely. Social media is a destruction zone. I’m no fucking predator or pedophile. Are you kidding me? Anyone that truely knows me fucking knows where I stand on those things with those types of people. Fuck that. That’s a different level of disgust that I fucking hate even hearing about. Don’t be labeling me as the worst of the worst with your exaggerations. Get the fuck outta here with that shit.
But I think I’ve said what I needed to say regarding the ban itself. That’s it. That’s why twitch made the decision in 2020.
To my team, community, industry friends that have supported me, I apologize, I wish I could’ve said all this sooner. You guys have always showed me and my family love and support throughout all these years we love you guys like you can’t imagine. I have the fucking best community and circle. If any of this has made you uncomfortable, I get it. You don’t have to support me anymore but just know you have always been greatly appreciated.
But trust me when I say this...to all my haters that live and breath social media with zero real life experience, I don’t give a fuck about you.
Finally, if you’re uncomfortable with this entire statement and think I’m a piece of shit, that’s fine. But I’m not fucking going anywhere. I’m not the same guy that made this mistake all those years ago. I’m taking an extended vacation with my family as mentioned on stream and I’m coming back with a heavy weight off my shoulders.
They want me to disappear... yeah fucking right.