Dr Disrespect ousted from own studio as new Twitch ban allegations surface

High-profile streamer Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm was ousted from Midnight Society, the game development studio he co-founded in 2021, after new allegations regarding his high-profile ban from Twitch surfaced at the end of last week.

Beahm was permanently banned from Twitch in the summer of 2020 – a year into a two-year exclusivity contract with the company – but neither party has ever revealed why. Twitch’s closest explanation is a statement shared at the time of the ban, saying it takes “appropriate action when we have evidence that a streamer has acted in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. ‘use… whatever its status or behavior’. an important place in the community. » In August 2021, Beahm announced he was suing Twitch for banning – but the legal dispute was later settled, with neither party admitting wrongdoing.

And that seemed to be the end of the matter, until last week. Former Twitch Director of Strategic Partnerships Cody Conners posted a message on social media on Friday alleging that an anonymous person “was banned because they were caught sexting a minor in the then-existing Twitch Whispers product He was trying to meet up with her at TwitchCon. Case closed, gang.

Although Conners did not name Beahm directly, the connection was quickly made – and his claims were corroborated by two former Twitch employees in a subsequent report from The Verge, this time explicitly linking the allegations to Beahm.

And it’s following these allegations that game developer Midnight Society – currently working on free-to-play first-person pull shooter Deadrop – has officially parted ways with Beahm, who co-founded the studio with the old Call of Duty. community manager Robert Bowling in 2021.

“On Friday evening, we became aware of an allegation against one of our co-founders Guy Beahm aka Dr Disrespect,” the studio wrote in a statement shared on social media. “We assumed his innocence and began speaking with the parties involved. And in order to maintain our principles and standards as a studio and individuals, we had to take action.”

“For this reason,” the statement continued, “we are immediately terminating our relationship with Guy Beahm. Although these facts are difficult to hear and even more difficult to accept, it is our duty to act with dignity on behalf of everyone involved,” especially the fifty-five developers and families we employed as well as our gaming community. »

Although Beahm has yet to officially comment on his split from Midnight Society, the streamer shared a statement on social media after the new allegations began circulating last week. “Look, I’m obviously bound by the legal obligations of the settlement with Twitch but I just need to say what I can say since it’s the fucking Internet,” he wrote. “I did nothing wrong, this was all investigated and resolved, nothing illegal, no wrongdoing was found and I was paid.”

During a broadcast almost immediately before Midnight Society’s announcement, Beahm told viewers that he “absolutely had to take a break from everything” and take a “step back,” adding, “I mean , I’m going to have to pass this on to the Midnight Society, but, you know, maybe I’m walking away from there too, removing myself from the scene altogether.