Dr DisRespect Permanently Banned from Twitch, According to Report
Popular Twitch streamer Dr DisRespect has reportedly been permanently banned from the streaming platform, but no reason has been given for the decision, according to the streamer himself.
Popular Twitch streamer Dr DisRespect, whose real name is Herschel “Guy” Beahm IV, was banned from the streaming platform for an undisclosed reason on Friday. Beahm’s channel, which boasted over 4 million followers, was removed from the service. Twitch also refunded subscriptions to Beahm’s channel and removed his emotes. His Twitch partner status was allegedly revoked.
On Saturday, Beahm acknowledged that he’d been banned from Twitch in a message to his supporters (known as the Champions Club) on Twitter, but did not give a reason for the ban: “Champions Club, Twitch has not notified me on the specific reason behind their decision,” Beahm wrote. “Firm handshakes to all for the support during this difficult time.”
Kotaku reported that the ban is permanent, citing multiple sources, including “three sources close to Twitch.” Industry insider Rod “Slasher” Breslau corroborated the report, confirming that the ban is indeed permanent and that it doesn’t have to do with a DMCA copyright violation, which has been a reason Twitch has suspended streamers in the past.
Breslau later clarified that “for several hours now” he’d been told from “credible sources” why Beahm was banned from the platform but that he didn’t want to say more “due to the importance and sensitivity around the subject.”
Shannon “ShannonZKiller” Plante, another popular Twitch streamer, said on Twitter (via GameSpot) that she’d heard from her “sources” that “Doc is indeed done, and not just on Twitch. I know why and cannot say. But this is serious.” Plante later deleted the tweet.
Twitch confirmed that Beahm had been banned from the platform in a statement to IGN, but would not give a reason for the streamer’s removal: “As is our process, we take appropriate action when we have evidence that a streamer has acted in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. These apply to all streamers regardless of status or prominence in the community.”
Discord also ended its partnership with Beahm, according to Forbes. Some on the internet questioned whether Beahm’s sponsorship deal with Mountain Dew Game Fuel and partnership with Loaded.gg had also been revoked, but nothing official has been announced on those fronts.
Beahm is currently best known for streaming multiplayer shooters like Call of Duty and Apex Legends. A pinned tweet posted on his Twitter on June 22 confirmed that Beahm had planned to stream on Friday, starting at 10 am PT. The streamer went live as recently as the day before, according to IGN, but was nowhere to be found on Friday.
Esports news site Dexerto posted a clip of the final seconds of Beahm’s last stream on Thursday, which, according to the outlet, “has sparked confusion and speculation about his exit.” Watch the clip below:
The streamer seemed to cryptically address his viewers before abruptly ending the stream, saying, “We’ll get through this Champions Club. I know it’s a tough… life’s weird right now. We’ll get through this.”
While Beahm did not immediately address fans on Friday, his wife, who uses the alias “mrsassassin” online, posted a message of gratitude to Beahm’s supporters on Instagram (via Twitch streamer and blogger Zach Bussey). The Instagram story read:
“The outpouring of love, support, strength, and kindness from the arena has truly been overwhelming. You all have my heart full and I cannot thank you enough. No one better out there than the Champions Club. You guys are amazing! Much love to you all.”
Beahm’s wife did not directly address the ban or provide a reason for her husband’s suspension from Twitch.
The ban came just months after Beahm signed a multi-year exclusivity deal with Twitch, locking him into the platform at a time when other popular streamers like Ninja and Shroud had been poached by Microsoft for its own Mixer streaming service, which was recently shut down. It’s unclear if Beahm’s deal with Twitch has also been terminated.
This is the second time Beahm has been banned from Twitch. He was first suspended in 2019 for filming from a bathroom in the LA Convention Center during E3. Beahm’s account was reinstated a few weeks later.
The ban also came on the same week that Twitch announced in a blog post its commitment to creating a safer streaming community after several high-profile streamers were accused of sexual misconduct, including popular Destiny 2 streamer Lono “SayNoToRage” as well as Tom “Syndicate” Cassell. Following a week of allegations in late June, Twitch confirmed that it would begin investigating and banning streamers it found had violated its community guidelines. Streamers iAmSp00n, BlessRNG, WarwitchTV, DreadedCone, and Wolv21 have all been banned as a result, according to Polygon.
“We are reviewing each case that has come to light as quickly as possible, while ensuring appropriate due diligence as we assess these serious allegations,” said Twitch in the blog post. “We’ve prioritized the most severe cases and will begin issuing permanent suspensions in line with our findings immediately.”
There’s no evidence that Beahm’s ban is related to sexual misconduct.
We’ll update this story as we learn more.
Written by
John Saavedra is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Den of Geek. He lives in New York City with his two cats.