Here’s everything we know about why Guy Beahm, better known by his stage name of Dr Disrespect, was recently banned from Twitch.
Dr Disrespect had it all. He had 4.5 million followers on Twitch and a multi-million dollar deal to stream on the platform. He had his own clothing line, corporate sponsorship, a TV adaptation of his life in the works, and even a collaboration with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
And then it all went up in smoke. On June 26, Twitch announced that Dr Disrespect had been banned from its streaming platform, with reports soon following that it was a permanent ban. Twitch refunded Doc’s tier 1 subscribers, also known as Dr Disrepsect’s “Champions Club,” and took down his Twitch page.
Prelude To Permaban
In the days leading up to the Twitch ban, Dr Disrespect had been acting increasingly erratic. Just the week before, Doc announced a temporary hiatus from streaming as he headed into “the extreme mountains” for a digital holiday. And after his return, he didn’t seem refreshed. He just seemed downtrodden.
And then there was his final Twitch stream, the last 6 minutes of which get really weird. After glancing down at his phone, his demeanor turns downright maudlin, telling his Champions Club to stay strong while also touting bizarre conspiracy theories about the coronavirus.
He finally ends the stream after swapping his feed to a Roblox game and then telling his followers, “We’ll get through this.” He then curses and kills the feed. And then it’s over.
Since then it’s been radio silence from all parties. Twitch has issued a single public comment to say only that Doc had violated their Community Guidelines or Terms of Service and that those rules “apply to all streamers regardless of status or prominence in the community.”
Doc’s only comment on the matter was to say that “Twitch has not notified me on the specific reason behind their decision.” After that, nothing from either party.
The only other thing we know is that there are folks out there that do know just what happened, only they’re not talking. Industry insider Rod Breslau, who goes by @Slasher on Twitter, has since tweeted that he’s spoken with “credible sources” that indicate the “importance and sensitivity around the subject” prevents him from disclosing the full details.
However, in response to Doc’s tweet, Breslau did offer some “food for thought.”
“Twitch does not issue specific reasons to streamers for permanent bans,” he wrote. “MethodJosh was banned following a report of sexual assault and Twitch has never commented publicly or privately. Josh & Ice Poseidon were told ‘Other TOS violations’.”
So What Happened?
We can only speculate at this point, but the timing of the ban is a big clue. Last week, the entire gaming industry seemed to have its #MeToo moment with prominent men being dropped from studios after allegations of sexual harassment surfaced online. Twitch is particularly sensitive to this subject, so dropping Dr Disrespect during this time is likely no coincidence.
Then there’s the “leaks” from Twitch HR staff on 4chan, a site that has been known to harbor leaks of all kinds. The poster accuses Dr Disrespect of having assaulted a prominent female Twitch streamer during last year’s TwitchCon in San Diego. Twitch allegedly tried to protect Dr Disrespect by keeping her quiet, but the recent slew of firings had inspired her to go public. Twitch simply got ahead of the curve and banned Doc preemptively.
Those posts said that we should expect to see a public announcement from that female Twitch streamer, but so far we haven’t heard anything.
Another rumor points to Doc ditching Twitch for a new streaming service called Brime, but that story doesn’t add up. Brime is thus far only a social media handle and little else, with Forbes reporting that Brime says they had nothing to do with Doc’s Twitch ban.
The last theory is rather dark. It’s possible that Doc has gotten into serious legal trouble and that his lawyers have told him to shut up and stay quiet indefinitely. It would explain the complete silence and why no one is willing to risk becoming a witness/accessory by also speaking up, but it also means we’ll never know the full story until an arrest is made.
The truth is we may never know the full story of what happened. But Dr Disrespect isn’t known for being quiet. We’re sure that if we wait long enough, the good Doctor will spill the beans eventually.
