The video game streaming and pop culture worlds are in shock after a years-old controversy has reared its exceedingly ugly head again.
Guy “Dr. Disrespect” Beahm, one of the most popular video game streamers in the entire space, has spoken up after shocking allegations about why he was banned from video game streaming platform Twitch in 2020 surfaced recently.
On Friday, a former Twitch employee by the name of Cody Conners posted to social media platform X a message that actually never mentioned Beahm or “Dr. Disrespect” by name:
He got banned because got caught sexting a minor in the then existing Twitch whispers product. He was trying to meet up with her at TwitchCon. The powers that be could read in plain text.
Case closed, gang.
— Cody Conners (@evoli) June 22, 2024
“He got banned because got caught sexting a minor in the then existing Twitch whispers product,” Conners posted. Twitch’s “whispers” product was a short-lived private messaging app that existed within the platform.
Conners further alleged: “He was trying to meet up with her at TwitchCon. The powers that be could read in plain text.
“Case closed, gang.”
Despite never identifying anyone, everyone familiar with the streaming space knew exactly what Conners was alluding to.
Do you think it’s possible for an adult and a minor to have a “mutual conversation”?
A brief history lesson: Beahm first began streaming in 2010 under the moniker “Dr. Disrespect,” a sort of caricature of the ultra-aggro, dude-bro gamer.
Between both Beahm’s genuine skills at playing a variety of video games, particularly first-person shooters, and the raw absurdist schtick of the “Dr. Disrespect” character, the streamer quickly rose in fame.
By the end of the decade, Beahm was one of the biggest streamers in the world, boasting millions of followers on Twitch with streams that would easily draw in thousands of concurrent live viewers — an advertising revenue boon for both Beahm and Twitch.
Given that golden goose-esque relationship, many were stunned when the partnership between Beahm and Twitch was abruptly terminated in 2020, as reported by Bloomberg. Neither party spoke about it, and whatever issue existed was eventually settled in court.
Despite — or perhaps due to — the mystery of the 2020 termination, Beahm largely left that controversy behind him and appeared to have rehabilitated whatever damage he had done to his reputation.
After a brief, month-long hiatus, Beahm eventually made a ballyhooed return to streaming on YouTube, where he currently boasts over 4.7 million subscribers. Not just that, but as Bloomberg noted, Beahm has been featured in Mountain Dew ads and was even a guest announcer during the 2022 NFL Draft.
He even founded a video game studio, Midnight Society, that’s in the midst of working on a massive project.
On Monday, Midnight Society announced that Beahm was no longer a part of the company — and the language stopped just short of saying that Beahm was guilty of what Conners accused him of.
On Friday evening we became aware of an allegation against one of our co-founder’s Guy Beahm aka Dr Disrespect.
We assumed his innocence and began speaking with parties involved. And in order to maintain our principles and standards as a studio and individuals, we needed to act.…
— Midnight Society (@12am) June 24, 2024
“On Friday evening we became aware of an allegation against one of our co-founder’s Guy Beahm aka Dr Disrespect,” the post read. “We assumed his innocence and began speaking with parties involved. 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.
“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.”
Just a day after the Midnight Society announcement, Beahm himself took to X to clear the air in an expletive-laden post, breaking his silence on the entire ordeal.
WARNING: The following excerpt from the linked post contains language that some may find offensive.
“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,” Beahm wrote after saying he was going to “cut the … bulls***.”
After claiming that the decision to leave Midnight Society was a “painful decision” made “collectively,” Beahm came clean and admitted what actually happened leading up to that mysterious 2020 banning.
“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 wrote, before noting that the now-public allegations meant he could tell his side of the story.
“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, 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.”
Beahm continued: “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”
After admitting that the decision was “stupid,” Beahm launched into an impassioned defense of his character.
“Now, with all this said, don’t get it f***ing mistaken, I’ve seen all the remarks and labels being [thrown] around so loosely,” Beahm began. “Social media is a destruction zone.
“I’m no f***ing predator or pedophile. Are you kidding me? Anyone that truely [sic] knows me f***ing knows where I stand on those things with those types of people. F*** that. That’s a different level of disgust that I f***ing hate even hearing about. Don’t be labeling me as the worst of the worst with your exaggerations. Get the f*** outta here with that s***.”
As of this writing, YouTube has not commented on these allegations, and Beahm’s most recent stream is still available to watch. Beahm, meanwhile, has defiantly indicated he will be taking some time off from streaming.
Beahm ended his post with this: “Finally, if you’re uncomfortable with this entire statement and think I’m a piece of s***, that’s fine. But I’m not f***ing 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 f***ing right.”
