Gaming

Dr Disrespect has monetisation suspended on YouTube channel after admitting to messaging a minor

Dr Disrespect has monetisation suspended on YouTube channel after admitting to messaging a minor
Dr Disrespect Fires Back At Disturbing Allegations
SVG / VideoElephant

Renowned streamer Dr Disrespect confirmed he was banned from Twitch in 2020 for messaging a minor in a lengthy statement after allegations were made by two former employees of the streaming platform.

And now his YouTube channel has been demonetised.

A YouTube spokesperson said in a statement to IGN: "We have suspended Dr Disrespect's channel from the YouTube Partner Program following serious allegations against the creator. This action means the channel is no longer able to monetise on YouTube."

The spokesperson confirmed it took the action "for violating our Creator Responsibility policy" - Dr Disrespect also cannot create new or alternate channels while this suspension is in place.

Dr Disrespect, whose real name is Herschel 'Guy' Beahm, announced during a stream on June 23 he was taking a break despite maintaining his innocence.

A clip surfaced online of him appearing to end that stream rather abruptly as his mood changed following a message he seemed to receive.

And now Dr Disrespect has posted a lengthy statement on X / Twitter.

He said: "First and foremost I do want to apologise to everyone in my community as well as those close to me, my team and everyone at Midnight Society Game Studio.

"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.

"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 f*****g own my s**t. This was stupid.

"If you're uncomfortable with this entire statement and think I'm a piece of s**t, that's fine. But I'm not f*****g 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."

Dr Disrespect used to work for Sledgehammer Games but built up his own persona streaming games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and PUBG: Battlegrounds.

He built a huge following and had more than four million followers on Twitch but was banned from the platform in June 2020 - the reason was never confirmed until Dr Disrespect made that recent statement.

At the time, Twitch said it takes "appropriate action when we have evidence that a streamer has acted in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service... Regardless of status or prominence in the community".

After a few months at hinting of wrongdoing from Twitch, Dr Disrespect announced the feud was over, everything was "settled" after a lawsuit between the two parties in 2022 and there was no wrongdoing from either side - he continued streaming on YouTube through this time.

Former Twitch employee Cody Conners made allegations on June 21 that inappropriate messages had been sent to someone under the age of 18 on the platform.

Although Conners did not name Dr Disrespect, it's understood these claims are about him as Dr Disrespect responded to them after they were shared by a different account.

Conners said: "He got banned because (sic) 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."

Dr Disrespect denied the allegations on X / Twitter after it was shared by someone else, saying that it was a "hot topic" and it has "been settled, no wrongdoing was acknowledged and they paid out the whole contract".

He then responded with a more detailed Tweet soon after.

"Listen, I'm obviously tied to legal obligations from the settlement with Twitch but I just need to say what I can say since this is the f*****g internet," Dr Disrespect said.

"I didn't do anything wrong, all this has been probed and settled, nothing illegal, no wrongdoing was found and I was paid. Elden Ring Monday."


The allegations were then seconded by another former Twitch employee to The Verge published on June 23, who worked in the streaming platform's trust and safety team at the time of Dr Disrespect's ban.

They claimed he "exchanged messages with a minor and initiated a conversation about meeting up at TwitchCon", the report said.

"They said there was a significant amount of time between when the messages between Beahm and the alleged victim were sent and when the moderation report about those messages was filed, but they weren't able to recall how much time," the report continued.

"When Twitch received the report in 2020, they said Twitch investigated the claims and ultimately banned Beahm's channel."

Dr Disrespect spoke about the allegations on the aforementioned Elden Ring stream, his first one since the allegations were made.

"For those that are looking to expand on this weekend, I'm not going to, I've already said what I needed to say," he said.

"I don't give a f**k about this guy. That's it.

"I do appreciate the donations, I do appreciate the messages but I'd like to put it into fifth gear right off the rift."

He also announced he would be taking a break from streaming despite maintaining his innocence.

"I think, first and foremost though, I did have a bit of a planned vacation coming up, but I might extend that starting today," he said.

"It is what it is. People get fatigued. To be honest, I don't know how long my vacation is, but maybe I extend that. We'll see."

Conners, who originally posted the claims, got a huge backlash from making them on social media and on June 24, after Dr Disrespect's stream he Tweeted an apology about making the claims.

He said: "Those three Tweets warrant admonishment. I apologize for it all because it's worth apologize (sic) for.

"For everyone who has since said 'that's f****d' - I agreed with you on Friday night before you wrote it. I should have agreed with you sooner. I cannot take it back but I can stop it."

Midnight Society, Dr Disrespect's game studio, announced on June 24 it would be severing ties with Dr Disrespect effective immediately.

A post shared on X / Twitter said: "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 55 developers and families we have employed along with our community of players."

In 2017, according to Mashable, he announced in a short stream he would be going on a hiatus after cheating on his wife.

"As you guys know, I have a beautiful family, a wife and kid," he said. "And I want to be transparent that I've been unfaithful."

Dr Disrespect's wife is known as Mrs Assassin - it's reported the couple have been together for 16 years and have a daughter.

Mrs Assassin has not yet spoken about the controversy online.

Dr Disrespect and Twitch were contacted for further comment.

Sign up for our free indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

The Conversation (0)
x