In June, Twitch permanently banned one of its biggest stars, Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm, with no public indication as to why. Over the weekend, Beahm streamed for the first time since getting the big, purple boot from Twitch ” now on YouTube. He was met by hundreds of thousands of concurrent viewers. And questions.
Beahm announced his return yesterday, leaving big streaming returns remain a lucrative business.
Beahm began the stream by saying that he had no big plans and was taking an unscripted approach. However, he did address the elephant that’s going to follow him into any room he walks into for the foreseeable future. In response to questions about his Twitch ban, he reiterated what he claimed during an obviously orchestrated publicity tour of various press outlets last month.
“In regards to the ban, there’s a lot of people who want to know what happened,” he said during the stream. “Guess what: I want you to look me in my fucking eyes when I say this; I really want you to look me in my eyes when I say this. We still have no idea. We have no idea. “Yeah, right dude, I’m not buying that one.’ Bunch of phonies. We have no idea. And I’m gonna tell you this right now: As far as I’m concerned, we didn’t do anything to warrant a ban, let alone how they ended up banning us. No communication before. No reaching out. Boom. Done.”
In the time since, Kotaku has spoken to numerous sources in and around Twitch and has learned that even most Twitch employees do not know why Beahm got exiled from the Amazon-owned streaming platform. Several have described the company’s approach to this information as a “lockdown” limited to a handful of top people.
He went on to acknowledge that people are “anxious” for an answer, but also attributed that anxiety to a “small percentage” instead of, you know, the entire internet. “You know what they want: something bad to happen out of it,” he said. “Let’s not beat around the bush.”
As he said this, many viewers in chat typed messages like “WE WANT ANSWERS,” while others called them haters, said they didn’t care, and welcomed Beahm back.
Beahm noted, however, that there’s still quite a bit going on in the background: “Last thing I’m gonna say about it: And I have to be intelligent about all of this, because you’re talking about a heavy contract, lots of money,” he said, referencing his previous deal with Twitch. “So let the legal professionals do what they need to do. That’s it. Period.”
He went on to describe the ban as “a speed bump,” but “now we’re back on the road.”
Beahm’s big comeback does not mean he’s in the clear. While some have taken his Twitch ban to be part of a publicity stunt, the fact remains that an enormous streaming platform doesn’t just tear up a multimillion dollar contract with one of its biggest earners for no reason.
When he first got banned, sources told Kotaku and others that Twitch abruptly ended its relationship with Beahm over something very “serious.” In the time since, Kotaku has spoken to numerous sources in and around Twitch and has learned that even most Twitch employees do not know why Beahm got exiled from the Amazon-owned streaming platform. Several have described the company’s approach to this information as a “lockdown” limited to a handful of top people.
Even Twitch’s partnerships team, which is often involved in these sorts of matters, got bypassed, sources told Kotaku. Twitch clearly does not want this information in the hands of the public and has, so far, prevented that from happening, despite sustained efforts on the part of Kotaku and other journalists, as well as a veritable stampede of rabidly curious internet denizens.
In the absence of further information and thanks to Beahm’s savvy manipulation of that vacuum, fans have rallied to his side, assuming that Twitch acted maliciously and their favourite streamer is innocent of wrongdoing. It’s an easy judgement to make; Twitch is notoriously inconsistent, prone to a lack of transparency, and bad at communicating. Sponsors like Mountain Dew Game Fuel continue to work with Beahm, which further paints Twitch as an outlier. This is an expected outcome when corporate secrets collide with the modern, personality-driven internet. Even if something smells extremely fishy, fans and companies aren’t gonna drop a beloved, lucrative star until circumstance leaves them with absolutely no other choice.
At this point, Beahm is operating on YouTube independently. He is not signed to any sort of partnership deal or contract a la the one he had with Twitch. The Verge says he intends to stream on Facebook and his own website, as well.
At one point during today’s stream, Beahm semi-joked about how expensive the houses and cars that he owns are. “For a second there, I thought I was in trouble,” he said, referencing questions about his career following his Twitch ban. For the time being, however, he’s trying to treat this as business as usual. During today’s stream, he got caught up on recent gaming events: Rogue Company, Fall Guys, and Halo Infinite, among others. Then he played Call of Duty: Warzone. He also claimed that he’s starting a production company. He talked trash. He boasted and bragged. He flexed. He yelled. It was standard Dr Disrespect, the sort of thing he could have easily done on Twitch if he hadn’t been kicked to the curb a couple months ago.
But he was. And hardly anybody knows why. No matter how hard he tries to swerve, pivot, and reboot his career, that will continue to hang over his head ” at least, for the time being.
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[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/06/twitch-bans-dr-disrespect/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/06/27/wk7l2iyqdbsubdxwhu7d-300×167.jpg” title=”Twitch Bans Dr Disrespect” excerpt=”Today, out of the blue, Twitch suspended massively popular streamer Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm, a ban that multiple sources tell Kotaku is permanent.”]
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/07/weeks-later-dr-disrespect-says-he-still-doesnt-know-why-he-was-banned-from-twitch/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/07/17/gnzwyndlberzif2qhdp8-300×169.png” title=”Weeks Later, Dr Disrespect Says He Still Doesn’t Know Why He Was Banned From Twitch” excerpt=”In his first public interview since being suddenly banned from Twitch last month, Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm, one of the platform’s most popular streamers, claims he still doesn’t know why.”]
Comments
28 responses to “Dr Disrespect Resumes Streaming To Over 500,000 Viewers And Plenty Of Questions”
Given the rumour around why he was banned, I’m a little surprised Youtube are allowing him on their platform. I guess they’re happy to put the money first.
What’s the rumour?
*unsubstantiated rumour people want to be true to justify their dislike of him.
OR *unsubstantiated rumour that COULD have so facts behind it, or else twitch would not have wasted their time getting rid of someone with (sadly) big viewership.
Cool
Id love to see those documented facts
You wouldn’t be pulling them out of thin air would you?
You want those unsubstantiated rumours to be true due to your hatred of him.
You don’t care about facts, there are none supporting those rumours.
You assume the worst because you want the worst. You are desperate for it.
Nope. I couldnt even remotely care about about this tiresome person. He already proved how stupid he was the last time he got in trouble filming in a bathroom, to say nothing of the cringe worthy COVID stuff. I really dont care what he did to deserve to lose his platform, but he is such an unpleasant and unlikable character, at the best of times, taking him at his word makes trusting the word of Twitch seem like wisdom.
You say you don’t remotely care
Yet on every article about him you go out of your way to sook about him
If you truly didn’t care you would never comment in the first place.
show me the facts. anyone can say anyone is a piece of shit. prove they are and im sure everyone will get behind you.
Cockroach approach.
Umm… you realise the minor flaw in the logic of that statement right?
The point something is an Unsubstantiated Rumor… or heck even calling anything a Rumour is the fact there are no actual concrete facts around it?
Its all just heresay and speculation hence a “rumour”
It’s funny you take that approach, this is the ‘I’ll have my cake and eat it too’ approach, where you’re hedging your bets in the worst kinds of way. “It’s not true obviously, but WHAT IF…”
But no. There’s no evidence so you actually don’t logically get to do that. You have no clue, just as neither do we, just as neither do those who started those rumours.
Is there an actually specific accusation? I’ve only heard the 1+1=2 type where his banning and the wave of bans around sexual assault and misconduct happening at the same time made people think it was likely something in that ballpark.
I mean I don’t even care about the guy, never seen anything he’s done outside of the bathroom streaming incedent, but gee this whole thing makes me curious.
MY GOD. he did 1+1 and came up with 2? jesus.
I think your joke here is pretty misplaced, there is reason to think it might be in the same ballpark, and it would explain the lack of a statement from twitch given the potential negative impact it might have on the potential victim.
I’m not in any way assuming he is guilty, or the random 4chan claim is accurate (Jesus Christ though, if it was I hope he rots in hell), but Twitch wouldn’t effectively throw away a ton of cash and viewers for no reason. It’s at the least reasonable to assume there is some evidence of something very serious.
You gotta remember the first rule of /b/
“The stories and information posted here are artistic works of fiction and falsehood.
Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact.”
Will prolly never find out… he and Twitch are probably in some sort of NDA hence everyone is utterly tight lipped about the whole thing.
I mean Twitch could have made this problem go away months ago by putting out a statement and they havent and Dr Disrespect is obviously hamming up the ban to attract more attention/views without flat out getting into the ban itself.
Maybe we will find out one of these days years down the line..
Yeah. I don’t really care about him but the story of why is intriguing. I mean Twitch is no stranger to knee jerk over reactions but this is just a weird setup. Maybe they got annoyed, banned him and assumed they’d find some reason to invalidate his contract but that’d be pretty big. I can understand doing it quickly and quietly because he has a lot of sway in their community but surely there was some line of reasoning.
Then add to all that the fact that his word is beyond worthless. Makes for a very interesting situation.
“He talked trash. He boasted and bragged. He flexed. He yelled.” Sound ghastly.
Why was he so silent during this whole time? He says he still doesn’t know why he was banned but for weeks after his ban he was dead silent. He knows exactly what happened. Talking about it would be like digging his own grave.
From what I’ve read it sounds like a lot of legal muscle is being thrown around and I feel that even Beahm is smart enough to not jeopardise his case by saying anything about ongoing legal investigations, especially with so much money on the line.
Oh of course, any of his actions gets picked up straight away. It’s why his Twitter has barely been active over the past 2 months
Any lawyer will tell you to keep quiet when you are being sued/ Suing someone.
As perfectly demonstrated in the case of Akilah Hughes v Sargon of Akkad. Not only was her case laughable, Her constant mouthing off on twitter gave the judge in this case ample evidence to not only dismiss the case in Sargon’s favour, Sargon was also awarded lawyers fees from her. The judge literally said in his ruling that her repeated mouthing off on twitter gave him ample evidence to dismiss the case.
You don’t give the opposing party more evidence than they need.
I may not always agree with some of Sargons stance these days (far too right of the spectrum for me as i tend to lean middle left) but good grief that case was (and continues to be if you kept up with Akila’s responses post settlement decision) to be such a joke..
I mean maaaayyybbe once upon a time with her first lawyer she might have had a shot at winning had the lawyer argued persuasively.. but her constant mouthing off in Social Media was constant ammo for Sargons team that she basically buried her own case… to think people are so detached to think success in the court of opinions means success in an actual court of law baffles the mind..
The current rumour I’ve seen is that Twitch had him sign a big $$$ contract to keep him from going to Mixer… and then right after that, Mixer announced it was dead. Twitch, wanting to save itself millions decided to ban him and come up with a reason later, which voided the contract.
This was another 4chan rumour so you know, probably not on the money.
The problem with that though is that if beahm’s lawyers could prove twitch maliciously cancelled the contract not only would they owe beahm the original contract amount, They would also have to pay more on top of that depending on how the judge calculates damages.
I know twitch makes some stupid decisions but I don’t think they would be stupid enough to break contract law like that.
The amount twitch would save for trying to cancel the contract like that would be nullified once they lost a lawsuit against beahm.
Yeah, I doubt it’s legit.
But, I also don’t think merely discussing David Icke would be enough to be shitcanned.
If Beahm’s truly honest about not knowing what he was banned for, then whatever it is must be interesting.
There’s no way Twitch would have a contract with him, knowing his persona, that didn’t include a lot of leeway when it comes to ending the contract based on inappropriate behaviour. I’m sure no matter what it’d be messy and Twitch wouldn’t want to actually have to justify their moderation when it comes to behaviour, and I doubt it’s what happened, but I wouldn’t rule it out on the assumption that he has some sort of iron clad contract.