Dr. Disrespect went missing from Twitch this afternoon, and his account went missing from the site, leading to rumors that it had been banned. The disappearance comes two days after Twitch said it would begin issuing permanent suspensions for streamers, as it cracked down on allegations of sexual harassment and sexual harassment.
Twitch did not confirm that it had banned Dr. Disrespect, why it might have been banned, or if it could be banned permanently. Twitch signed Dr. Disrespect to an exclusive two-year contract in March for an undisclosed but “life-changing” amount of money. The broadcaster had also made a deal with a production company to create an animated television series about his character.
Dr. Disrespect, whose real name is Herschel “Guy” Beahm, is famous for his exaggerated personality: introducing his character as a person who takes games to the extreme extreme and is among the top 10 most followed accounts on Twitch, a list which includes multiple people (like Ninja) who are no longer using the site.
The potential ban would be a great statement from Twitch, in case Twitch chooses to confirm it. He would point out that the platform will begin to take the behavior of its transmitters both on and off stream more seriously, after a week of complaints about sexual harassment and assault.
Beahm does not appear to have been among those accused of harassment or other misconduct, but has been a controversial figure in the past. Beahm was banned last year for broadcasting from the men’s room at E3. In 2018, he was criticized for making racist cartoons during the broadcast.
Twitch suggested that Beahm had violated the site’s community guidelines or terms of service in an email to The edge but I wouldn’t specifically say, “As is our process, we take appropriate action when we have evidence that a transmitter has acted in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. This applies to all streamers, regardless of status or importance in the community, “a Twitch spokesperson said in an email.
