Dr Disrespect responds to reports that he messaged minor on Twitch

Dr Disrespect, formerly one of Twitch’s biggest streamers, has broken his silence about his mysterious ban from the platform four years ago, writing that he had sent “inappropriate” messages to a minor.

The streamer, whose real name is Herschel “Guy” Beahm, had more than 4 million followers on Twitch before his channel was abruptly removed in 2020 without a public explanation — right in the midst of his lucrative two-year exclusivity deal with the platform.

In a lengthy statement Tuesday on X, Beahm confirmed that in 2017, he had conversations with a minor “that sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate.”

“Were there twitch whisper messages with an individual minor back in 2017? The answer is yes. Were there real intentions behind these messages, the answer is absolutely not,” he wrote. Twitch’s “whisper” function was the platform’s private messaging system.

Beahm added, “Nothing illegal happened, no pictures were shared, no crimes were committed, I never even met the individual.” He further emphasized that he has never been criminally charged.

He said he went through a lengthy arbitration process with Twitch about the ban before the civil dispute was resolved in a settlement. Twitch has not commented publicly on the issue, and it did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A representative for Beahm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Attention around Beahm’s ban began Friday, when former Twitch employee Cody Conners, who worked on the company’s strategic partnerships team until last year, shared an explosive post on X on Friday that appeared to refer to Beahm, although it did not explicitly name him.

“He got banned because got caught sexting a minor in the then existing Twitch whispers product. He was trying to meet up with her at TwitchCon. The powers that be could read in plain text,” he wrote. “Case closed, gang.”

Shortly after Conners’ post went viral, Beahm appeared to deny the allegations, posting on X: “I didn’t do anything wrong, all this has been probed and settled, nothing illegal, no wrongdoing was found, and I was paid.” He clarified in an earlier post that Twitch had paid out his whole contract despite the ban.

Since his Twitch ban in 2020, Beahm has continued streaming on YouTube to his 4.7 million followers and has partnered with major brands, including Mountain Dew and the NFL. 

After Conners went public, The Verge published a report citing an anonymous second former Twitch employee who confirmed Conners’ allegations.

By Monday afternoon, Midnight Society — the game studio Beahm co-founded in 2021 — announced that it has ended its relationship with Beahm.

Robert Bowling, another co-founder of Midnight Society, wrote in a statement online after Beahm’s statement Tuesday: “If you inappropriately message a minor. I can not work with you. Period. I promised to only act on facts, and I did.”

On Tuesday, about an hour before Beahm published his statement, Bloomberg quoted three unnamed sources citing three unnamed sources who it said also confirmed Conners’ claims. Two of the sources said Beahm had asked the minor about her plans at TwitchCon, an annual convention for streamers and fans, according to the report.

In his social media statement, Beahm said that the studio’s decision to cut ties was a collective one and that he did not want to “jeopardize the culture we have carefully crafted.” He also wrote that he accepts responsibility for his actions in 2017.

“I should have never entertained these conversations to begin with. That’s on me. That’s on me as an adult, a husband and a father. It should have never happened. I get it. I’m not perfect and I’ll f—ing own my s—. This was stupid,” he wrote. “Now, with all this said, don’t get it f—ing mistaken, I’ve seen all the remarks and labels being throw around so loosely. Social media is a destruction zone. I’m no f—ing predator or pedophile.”

Beahm ended his statement on a defiant note, saying he plans to continue making content regardless of potential backlash.

“If you’re uncomfortable with this entire statement and think I’m a piece of s—, that’s fine. But I’m not f—ing going anywhere. I’m not the same guy that made this mistake all those years ago,” he wrote, adding that he’ll soon be taking an extended vacation with his family. “They want me to disappear… yeah f—ing right.”