A Twitch spokesperson released this statement to Newsweek regarding Guy Beahm’s 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.”
Original Story
The biggest mystery in the streaming community has been the Twitch ban of popular streamer, Dr. Disrespect.
Dr. Disrespect, the online persona of Guy Beahm, was banned from Twitch in late June. The reason for his ban was not given by the streaming platform, and the future of Dr. Disrespect has been questioned. But Beahm confirmed in an interview with PC Gamer that he will not be returning to Twitch and that fans will learn the future of Dr. Disrespect soon.
“Obviously, for legal counsel, I have to be careful here. But I can say however, that I will not be returning to Twitch, so, I mean, that’s it,” Beahm told PC Gamer.
Throughout the interview, Beahm continually said that Twitch has kept him in the dark about his banning. There was no warning beforehand and he only found out he was banned while watching a friend’s stream. Beahm says that Twitch features began disappearing for him while watching and after his team looked into it, he was banned.
Beahm compared his Twitch ban to going to work, the front door being closed and being told you’re fired. The popular streamer also confirmed that he and his team are considering legal action against the platform.
Although Beahm won’t be returning to Twitch, he’s exploring different avenues where he can take his talents.
“While it’s unfortunate that I’m off Twitch, we’re definitely working behind the scenes on what a Dr. return might look like,” Beahm said. “In terms of the specifics around that, we’re not interested in exclusive at this point. We’re exploring our options and, honestly, just can’t wait to get back into character soon. We have a lot to do, and I’ll be wherever fans want me to be.”
Beahm says he doesn’t want to sign an exclusive contract with other platforms (similar to what Mixer gave Ninja) and other streamers and is working on where to go next.
In a follow up email from PC Gamer, Beahm clarified he’s considering streaming independently on his championsclub.gg website, in addition to other big options like YouTube and Facebook.
But the reason for Beahm’s banning remains a mystery. There has been speculation involving Beahm sharing a video of coronavirus theories, and Beahm has been open about sharing his thoughts on the virus and how he believes it relates to 5G networks. However, Beahm doesn’t believe that’s the reason for this Twitch ban before his publicist cut off the question.
When asked whether there’s a relation to Twitch banning streamers who were being accused of sexual harassment in recent weeks and his own banning, Beahm brushed it off.
“Listen, I’m not interested in engaging crazy speculation. I’ve seen all the theories, I’ve seen all the possible conspiracies, and it’s just like, I’m just not interested in engaging that type of stuff,” Beahm said. “I have a great community of loyal fans and I’m totally focused on getting back and delivering great, entertaining content and that’s where the focus is.”
Twitch banned President Donald Trump’s channel in June for hateful conduct. Twitch released this statement at the time: “Hateful conduct is not allowed on Twitch. In line with our policies, President Trump’s channel has been issued a temporary suspension from Twitch for comments made on stream, and the offending content has been removed.”
President Trump’s channel has since been unbanned after two weeks.
Newsweek has reached out to Twitch for a response to Beahm’s comments.
