Over the last few days, people have been talking a lot about Guy “Dr. Disrespect” Beahm, the once-popular Twitch streamer who was permanently banned from the site in 2020 for mysterious reasons, shifted to YouTube, and who has now come under fire for reportedly sending inappropriate text messages to a minor. These recent allegations have led to the streamer losing fans and sponsors, and forced him to issue a lengthy (and somewhat vague) statement about what he did.
Given that you’re reading this article here on Kotaku dot com dot au, you probably know what’s happening, have kept up with the news, understand what a Twitch streamer is and how popular they can be in 2024.
But for the rest of the world, including some of your friends, family, and spouses, this all might seem incomprehensible. So, this guide should help you provide fairly concise, easy-to-understand answers for all the Dr Disrespect questions you might be receiving from people close to you.
“Who is Dr Disrespect?”
Herschel Guy Beahm is a video game streamer who previously worked with Call of Duty developer Sledgehammer Games from 2011 to 2015.
He began streaming full-time after leaving the studio and became famous for his “toxic gamer” character known as Dr Disrespect. As “the doc,” he would often yell a lot, insulting other players, and act overly confident while playing battle royale titles like PUBG and H1Z1.
“Wait… so he was famous for yelling a lot and playing video games?”
Well, when you put it like that it does sound really silly, but yes, that’s basically what turned Dr Disrespect into a popular streamer with millions of subscribers and fans around the world. He was also pretty good at shooters like Call of Duty, which helped build his audience, too.
“Why does he uh…look like that?”
It’s part of his schtick. Dr Disrespect is supposed to be a parody of toxic gamers mixed together with an action-hero persona, hence the headphones, sunglasses, ‘80s mullet, and red tactical vest. However, depending on who you ask, Dr Disrespect might have essentially become the very thing he parodied as he became more comfortable spreading conspiracy theories and insulting people’s accents.
“I saw something about a bathroom incident?”
In June 2019, Dr Disrespect was invited to E3—a large gaming trade show—and streamed live from the convention floor. At one point, he entered a men’s restroom which had other people in it, and had his camera operator follow him in and stream his bathroom break.
He was temporarily banned from Twitch for doing this, but this ended up making him even more famous. I don’t really have an answer for that part, sorry.
“I’m confused, is this a character or really him?”
That’s a great question! It’s hard to say. While it’s clear that he’s still putting on a wig and fake mustache and all the other parts of the costume, it’s become increasingly difficult to figure out where Dr Disrespect ends and Beahm begins.
We are jumping ahead a bit here, but in a recent statement about all the shit going on, he decided to write it in character. I’m not sure if this was a choice he made on purpose or just the latest example of his inability to separate reality from his popular creation.
Editor’s note: I’ve heard people describe Beahm as a modern Andy Kaufman, committed to the bit in the manner of a kamikaze pilot.
“Did he really cheat on his wife?”
According to the man himself in 2017, he was indeed “unfaithful” to his wife.
“I’m going to take some time off to focus on stupid fuckin’ mistakes,” Beahm said, “I’m going to take time off to focus on my family.” This message, it should be noted, was delivered on video out of character.
“So why did he get banned from Twitch in 2020?”
Well, for a long time very few people knew what actually happened. On June 26, Dr Disrespect was permanently banned from Twitch. The streamer had 4 million subscribers and was one of the biggest names on the platform. But that didn’t matter. At the time, Dr Disrespect said he didn’t know why he had been banned.
In 2021 he filed a lawsuit against Twitch after claiming he learned why he was banned. That lawsuit was settled in 2022. “I have resolved my legal dispute with Twitch,” Dr Disrespect said in a message posted to Twitter. “No party admits to any wrongdoing.” That was all we knew until this past weekend.
“But now we do know because…”
Cody Conners, a former higher-up at Twitch, broke his silence on June 21, claiming on Twitter that Dr Disrespect got banned because he “got caught sexting a minor” and trying to “meet up with her at TwitchCon.” As you might expect, this led to a firestorm online and reporters began digging and talking to sources, with The Verge corroborating Conners’ claim on June 23 after speaking to another Twitch employee with information about the situation.
“Okay, so what has he said about all this?”
At first, Dr Disrespect seemed to be trying to move on and hoping all this would blow over. However, as more reports came in and more people began talking about the situation, it became clear this wasn’t going away.
On June 24, the game studio he had helped create cut ties with him after it investigated the claims itself. The news of him being removed from the studio was reportedly sent to him during an Elden Ring stream on Monday, and in a clip near the end of that stream you can see him reacting negatively to a message on his phone.
On June 25, Dr Disrespect finally broke his silence and issued a lengthy statement on Twitter confirming that in 2017 he’d exchanged text messages with a minor that sometimes “leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate, but nothing more.”
“Were there real intentions behind these messages, the answer is absolutely not,” added the streamer. He said he didn’t send any pictures or videos and he claimed no criminal charges were ever filed.
“Now what happens?”
Well, I’m not sure! It’s possible that YouTube, where Dr Disrespect currently streams, might remove the content creator from the platform. It’s also possible he’s able to stick around. During his most recent stream, he claimed to be taking an “extended vacation” and said he was burned out by streaming and being online.
So perhaps he just vanishes into the ether. Or he comes roaring back in a few weeks on a new platform. For now, we don’t know. We’ll just have to wait to find out.
“Well, what about other streamers and content creators? They aren’t controversial right?”
lol. Just don’t worry about it and enjoy your life living in peaceful bliss if you don’t know what a Ninja or a Nickmercs is. You are truly blessed.
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