YouTube is stopping Dr Disrespect’s channel from making money
Photo by David Becker / Getty Images
Dr Disrespect’s YouTube channel has been demonetized. In a statement to The Verge, YouTube spokesperson Nicole Bell wrote, “We have suspended monetization on DrDisrespect’s channel for violating our Creator Responsibility policy.” Bell also wrote that Dr Disrespect has been suspended from YouTube’s partner program “following serious allegations against the creator.”
The allegations refer to multiple reports that the streamer, whose real name is Guy Beahm, was banned from Twitch in 2020 due to inappropriate messages sent to a minor through Whispers, a Twitch communication app. When Beahm was banned, neither he nor Twitch explained the reason, leaving it a mystery for four years. Late last week, however, Cody Conners, a former Twitch employee, posted on X the alleged reason for Beahm’s ban. “He got banned because got caught sexting a minor in the then existing Twitch whispers product,” Conners wrote. “He was trying to meet up with her at TwitchCon.”
The Verge was able to corroborate Conners’ post with information from a second ex-Twitch employee who was on the trust and safety team at the time of the incident. In a Bloomberg report, two more Twitch employees also came forward to corroborate the allegations.
After Conners’ tweet, Beahm denied the accusations, posting on X, “This has been settled, no wrongdoing was acknowledged and they paid out the whole contract,” referring to a financial dispute Beahm settled against Twitch back in 2021. However, as multiple brands including Turtle Beach and Midnight Society — a game studio Beahm co-founded — began to distance themselves from the creator, Beahm took to social media again to defend himself.
“Were there Twitch whisper messages with an individual minor back in 2017? The answer is yes,” Beahm wrote on X, saying that those messages, “sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate.”
Beahm closed the statement by saying he planned to take an extended vacation but would eventually return to streaming. After getting banned from Twitch, Beahm started a YouTube channel in August 2020 that currently boasts over 4 million subscribers. In a report for Rolling Stone, Ryan Wyatt, former head of YouTube’s gaming partnerships, said that YouTube declined to give Beahm a partnership deal when he joined the platform because of the rumors surrounding his exit from Twitch. Partnership deals, like the kind enjoyed by other YouTube creators like Valkyrae and DrLupo, would have granted Beahm access to special YouTube resources and monetization features as well as ad revenue sharing.
“Because of those rumors, there was no reason to entertain doing any deal with [Beahm],” Wyatt said to Rolling Stone.
Photo by David Becker / Getty Images
Dr Disrespect’s YouTube channel has been demonetized. In a statement to The Verge, YouTube spokesperson Nicole Bell wrote, “We have suspended monetization on DrDisrespect’s channel for violating our Creator Responsibility policy.” Bell also wrote that Dr Disrespect has been suspended from YouTube’s partner program “following serious allegations against the creator.”
The allegations refer to multiple reports that the streamer, whose real name is Guy Beahm, was banned from Twitch in 2020 due to inappropriate messages sent to a minor through Whispers, a Twitch communication app. When Beahm was banned, neither he nor Twitch explained the reason, leaving it a mystery for four years. Late last week, however, Cody Conners, a former Twitch employee, posted on X the alleged reason for Beahm’s ban. “He got banned because got caught sexting a minor in the then existing Twitch whispers product,” Conners wrote. “He was trying to meet up with her at TwitchCon.”
The Verge was able to corroborate Conners’ post with information from a second ex-Twitch employee who was on the trust and safety team at the time of the incident. In a Bloomberg report, two more Twitch employees also came forward to corroborate the allegations.
After Conners’ tweet, Beahm denied the accusations, posting on X, “This has been settled, no wrongdoing was acknowledged and they paid out the whole contract,” referring to a financial dispute Beahm settled against Twitch back in 2021. However, as multiple brands including Turtle Beach and Midnight Society — a game studio Beahm co-founded — began to distance themselves from the creator, Beahm took to social media again to defend himself.
“Were there Twitch whisper messages with an individual minor back in 2017? The answer is yes,” Beahm wrote on X, saying that those messages, “sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate.”
Beahm closed the statement by saying he planned to take an extended vacation but would eventually return to streaming. After getting banned from Twitch, Beahm started a YouTube channel in August 2020 that currently boasts over 4 million subscribers. In a report for Rolling Stone, Ryan Wyatt, former head of YouTube’s gaming partnerships, said that YouTube declined to give Beahm a partnership deal when he joined the platform because of the rumors surrounding his exit from Twitch. Partnership deals, like the kind enjoyed by other YouTube creators like Valkyrae and DrLupo, would have granted Beahm access to special YouTube resources and monetization features as well as ad revenue sharing.
“Because of those rumors, there was no reason to entertain doing any deal with [Beahm],” Wyatt said to Rolling Stone.