Herschel “Guy” Beahm, who goes by the streamer name Dr. Disrespect, is no longer on Twitch.
The circumstances of Beahm’s removal from the service aren’t clear at this time. His page on the Amazon-owned video streaming website is currently shut down, with a message reading “that content is unavailable.”
A statement provided to Mashable on Saturday by a Twitch spokesperson suggests that Beahm violated one or more community guidelines. But it isn’t clear what exactly happened, or whether the removal is being characterized as a suspension or a ban.
“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,” Twitch’s statement reads.
You can find the site’s community guidelines right here.
There’s at least some suggestion that Beahm won’t returning to Twitch, and that his removal from the platform isn’t related to a recent string of copyright takedown notices that other streamers have received. Rod “Slasher” Breslau, a well-known esports consultant who is plugged into the streaming community, noted as much on Twitter. (I’ve heard the same regarding a ban, for whatever it’s worth.)
Sources: it is not DMCA
— Rod “4475 SR & Immortal peak” Breslau (@Slasher) June 26, 2020
In a subsequent tweet, Breslau mentioned that Beahm’s paying subscribers on Twitch received refunds. His Discord partnership also appears to be finished.
Footage saved from Beahm’s final stream only adds to the mystery. His chatter is unfocused all throughout the nine-minute clip, and in the final few moments he actually seems genuinely distressed by something happening off camera. You can see him look around quickly and hunch over as he shouts “Fuck!” before cutting the stream.
Beahm has had his share of troubles in the past. In 2019, he was kicked out of the annual E3 trade show and temporarily banned from Twitch after streaming from inside one of the bathrooms at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The year before that, he drew criticism for delivering racist caricatures of a Chinese accent on his streams.
It hasn’t all unfolded on Twitch, either. In late 2017, Beahm went on a hiatus after publicly admitting that he’d been unfaithful to his wife.
The word of Beahm being hit with a ban now is especially surprising coming just a few months after he signed a multi-year deal with Twitch. That deal was signed in March, meaning Twitch knew very well already who they were dealing with (and what his history is).
Beahm’s agents at Creative Artists Agency haven’t replied to an email from Mashable looking for more info at the time of this writing. But we’ll update this story as more information surfaces.