Turtle Beach--a company that sells headsets and other gaming accessories--has ended its long-enduring partnership with Guy Beahm, a popular streamer known online as Dr Disrespect. The company severed ties with Beahm after news broke that his 2020 Twitch ban was a result of Beahm's inappropriate communications with minors.
"We will not be continuing our partnership with Guy Beahm/DrDisRespect," Turtle Beach said in a statement to IGN.
Beam's partnership with Turtle Beach began in 2020, and the streamer signed another deal with the company in 2023. Last October, the company even released a Dr Disrespect-themed headset.
At the time of his ban, Beahm claimed he had no idea what could have caused it. But several former Twitch employees have recently confirmed that Beahm's inappropriate behavior with minors was the reason behind the ban. According to one employee, Beahm allegedly made use of the streaming platform's now-defunct Whispers function to send inappropriate messages to a minor and attempted to facilitate a real-life meetup at TwitchCon.
When the news first came out, Beahm denied any wrongdoing, writing, "I get it, this is a hot topic, but this has been settled, no wrongdoing was acknowledged, and [Twitch] paid out the whole contract."
"I didn’t do anything wrong, all this has been probed and settled, nothing illegal, no wrongdoing was found, and I was paid," he later added in a subsequent tweet.
But Beahm recently posted a lengthy tweet in which he does admit that inappropriate messages were sent, but maintains he did nothing illegal and claims his interactions with the minor were "mutual."
"Were there Twitch Whisper messages with an individual minor back in 2017? The answer is yes," Beahm stated. "Were there real intentions behind these messages, the answer is absolutely not. These were casual, mutual conversations that sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate, but nothing more. Nothing illegal happened, no pictures were shared, no crimes were committed, I never even met the individual."
"Now, from a moral standpoint I'll absolutely take responsibility," he added. "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--t. This was stupid."
Regardless, Beahm's statements haven't stopped other companies from severing ties with him--including Midnight Society, a gaming studio he co-founded.
"On Friday evening we became aware of an allegation against one of our co-founder’s Guy Beahm aka Dr Disrespect," the studio said in a recent tweet. "We assumed his innocence and began speaking with parties involved. And in order to maintain our principles and standards as a studio and individuals, we needed to act. For this reason, we are terminating our relationship with Guy Beahm immediately. While these facts are difficult to hear and even more difficult to accept, it is our duty to act with dignity on behalf of all individuals involved, especially the fifty-five developers and families we have employed along with our community of players."
YouTube, where Beahm currently streams to an audience of 4.7 million subscribers, has yet to comment on the issue.
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"We will not be continuing our partnership with Guy Beahm/DrDisRespect," Turtle Beach said in a statement to IGN.
Beam's partnership with Turtle Beach began in 2020, and the streamer signed another deal with the company in 2023. Last October, the company even released a Dr Disrespect-themed headset.
At the time of his ban, Beahm claimed he had no idea what could have caused it. But several former Twitch employees have recently confirmed that Beahm's inappropriate behavior with minors was the reason behind the ban. According to one employee, Beahm allegedly made use of the streaming platform's now-defunct Whispers function to send inappropriate messages to a minor and attempted to facilitate a real-life meetup at TwitchCon.
When the news first came out, Beahm denied any wrongdoing, writing, "I get it, this is a hot topic, but this has been settled, no wrongdoing was acknowledged, and [Twitch] paid out the whole contract."
"I didn’t do anything wrong, all this has been probed and settled, nothing illegal, no wrongdoing was found, and I was paid," he later added in a subsequent tweet.
But Beahm recently posted a lengthy tweet in which he does admit that inappropriate messages were sent, but maintains he did nothing illegal and claims his interactions with the minor were "mutual."
"Were there Twitch Whisper messages with an individual minor back in 2017? The answer is yes," Beahm stated. "Were there real intentions behind these messages, the answer is absolutely not. These were casual, mutual conversations that sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate, but nothing more. Nothing illegal happened, no pictures were shared, no crimes were committed, I never even met the individual."
"Now, from a moral standpoint I'll absolutely take responsibility," he added. "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--t. This was stupid."
Regardless, Beahm's statements haven't stopped other companies from severing ties with him--including Midnight Society, a gaming studio he co-founded.
"On Friday evening we became aware of an allegation against one of our co-founder’s Guy Beahm aka Dr Disrespect," the studio said in a recent tweet. "We assumed his innocence and began speaking with parties involved. And in order to maintain our principles and standards as a studio and individuals, we needed to act. For this reason, we are terminating our relationship with Guy Beahm immediately. While these facts are difficult to hear and even more difficult to accept, it is our duty to act with dignity on behalf of all individuals involved, especially the fifty-five developers and families we have employed along with our community of players."
YouTube, where Beahm currently streams to an audience of 4.7 million subscribers, has yet to comment on the issue.
Source