In the fast-paced world of online streaming, few personalities have become as well-known as Herschel "Guy" Beahm, who is famously called Dr Disrespect. However, Twitch surprised everyone in 2020 by banning Dr Disrespect without giving any reason.
This sudden move left fans and the industry guessing about why it happened.
Two former Twitch employees have revealed why Dr Disrespect was banned on the platform.Rich Fury/Getty Images
Unveiling the Reason Behind Ban of Dr Disrespect on Twitch
In 2020, Twitch unexpectedly banned one of its most prominent streamers, Dr Disrespect, without providing any explanation. Four years later, two ex-Twitch employees have stepped forward to share their insights into the circumstances leading to his ban from the platform.
One of the former employees, who requested anonymity due to potential career repercussions, revealed to The Verge that Herschel "Guy" Beahm had used Whispers, Twitch's now-discontinued messaging service, to communicate with a minor and discuss meeting up at TwitchCon.
This employee was part of Twitch's trust and safety team at the time of Beahm's ban. The ex-employee provided additional details regarding the sequence of events preceding the ban.
According to them, there was a noticeable time gap between the exchange of messages between Beahm and the alleged victim and when the filing of the moderation report concerning those messages.
However, they could not remember how much time. Upon receiving the report in 2020, Twitch reportedly investigated the allegations and subsequently decided to ban Beahm's channel.
These statements align with the recent post of Cody Conners, a former member of Twitch's strategic partnerships team. Conners revealed that Herschel "Guy" Beahm was initially banned for getting caught having an inappropriate and sexual conversation with a minor through the Whispers service.
Although Conners did not directly mention Beahm by name, the post clearly referred to the streamer. Beahm's ban occurred soon after Twitch revised its sexual harassment policy, instituting permanent suspensions for violators.
Beahm refuted Connors' claims, saying that the matter had been resolved without any admission of wrongdoing and that he had received full compensation per his contract.
He reiterated in a subsequent post that he had not engaged in any misconduct, emphasizing that investigations had concluded with no findings of illegal activity or wrongdoing and that he had been compensated accordingly.
Despite his prominence, Twitch and Beahm remained tight-lipped about the reasons behind his sudden removal. Shortly after the ban, Beahm expressed frustration, revealing that Twitch had not provided him with any explanation for the account suspension.
A year after his Twitch ban, Beahm announced his lawsuit against the platform, seeking financial compensation. During this period, he acknowledged that he had been informed of the reason behind the ban but chose not to disclose it publicly.
