Dr. Disrespect gets canceled for statement – What happened?

Major breaking news happened overnight in the gaming and esports community as Guy Beahm, known to many as Dr. Disrespect, released a statement confirming he had engaged in conversations with an individual minor, then deleting the word “minor”, then added it back in, as eagle-eyed netizens marked it out on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This acknowledgement, or non-denial as some outlets have called it, has sparked an issue which has triggered severe backlash within the internet community and beyond. 

Dr. Disrespect under fire for Twitch-Messages

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…

— Dr Disrespect (@DrDisrespect) June 25, 2024

This was a response to what then-Twitch account director Cody Conners said on June 22nd in a tweet: “He got banned (from Twitch back in 2020) because (he) 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.”

At the time, Dr Disrespect replied to Jake Lucky, saying, “Jake seriously… I get it, its a hot topic but this has been settled, no wrongdoing was acknowledged and they paid out the whole contract.”

Back in 2020, Dr. Disrespect had been terminated from Twitch for reasons that many people did not know. Twitch was the place where Dr Disrespect was built – this was where he gained fame and influence. No reasons for the ban were ever revealed by Twitch or Dr. Disrespect, and Dr Disrespect even took Twitch to court over that ban, which ended in a settlement. Everything seemed normal afterward, almost like a minor inconvenience. The Doc streamed on Youtube from then on and the Ban slowly faded from the public eye.

What happened between Midnight Society and Dr. Disrespect?

A few days after the Ex-Twitch employee Cody Conners, out of the blue, put out his tweet, Midnight Society, the studio Dr. Disrespect helped co-found, terminated him.

“For this reason, we are terminating our relationship with Guy Beahm immediately,” Midnight Society said in its tweet. “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.”

A day after the statement, Dr Disrespect streamed Elden Ring on YouTube and abruptly ended the show, saying he was burnt out and will take a vacation with family. 

Then, he put out the statement which put him in hot water now, finally confirming what Cody said – that he was in contact with a minor.

Dr. Disrespect shoots his own foot with Statement

“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,” Dr Disrespect said.

“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.”

Dr Disrespect initially put the statement at the top of the hour, removed the word “minor” at :01, and then put it back on 22 minutes later, at 2:23. This left a very sour taste in many people’s mouths.

Turtle Beach also drops Dr. Disrespect

One of his long term endorsements, renowned gaming audio provider Turtle Beach has dropped Dr Disrespect’s headsets from its product line, and a report from IGN has confirmed that the company has disengaged from him.

Now that Dr. Disrespect is on “Vacation” and might be away for a while, we can only sit and wait if he really returns and if anyone will make the messages public, because narratives vary strongly and the settlement Twitch had to pay him speaks volumes about the percieved criminal guilt. A moral guilt is a different story and everyone has to make up their own mind about that part, to do so a full set of information would be helpful.