The streamer Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm has been banned from Twitch. The platform does not officially provide reasons for the ban. In a new stream on YouTube, Dr Disrespect hints at how much it tears him apart not being able to talk about the ban. He then indirectly gives a hint about the reason behind his ban: Twitch wanted to save money.
This is the backstory:
- The streamer “Dr Disrespect” was a successful Twitch streamer for years, and in March 2020 he even signed an exclusive contract for several years with Twitch. The contract is said to have been highly lucrative.
- In June 2020, Twitch banned the streamer from the platform, thus terminating the contract.
- Dr Disrespect hinted that he has taken legal action and cannot talk about the ban for now.
Dr Disrespect is boiling, finally speaking about the ban
This is what Dr Disrespect says now: In his streams on YouTube, Dr Disrespect is constantly asked about the Twitch ban. People say he has been “silenced by the big corporations”. Many want to encourage him and express their sympathy for his situation. They think he has been treated unfairly by “those above”.
In a stream at the end of September, you can see how Dr Disrespect is boiling to openly talk about the Twitch ban. However, he holds back again and says he cannot openly speak the truth. One must be “very careful with the truth, especially when legal matters come into play.” He has wanted to address the matter for a long time but cannot.
He has been silenced by the “process one must go through now.” He does not want to say more. Clever people can piece that together.
Then, however, he indirectly seems to talk about the ban. The very next donor says he was a Master Chief in the Navy for 25 years. Doc then says:
“25 years of active service. Master Chief! Hey, imagine the Navy comes to you and kicks you out just like that, and then brings in 3 new cadets because they say: Hey man, as a Master Chief you get a fat salary. Just imagine that. But … thankfully, that doesn’t happen to you.”
Dr Disrespect
The segment begins at 2:58 hours:
Did Twitch ban the Doctor to save his “big salary”?
This is what it’s about: Dr Disrespect indirectly suggests that Twitch fired him because they regret the exclusive contract they gave him. They would rather have signed “cheaper, new streamers” who have not contributed as much to Twitch as the long-serving Dr Disrespect.
This corresponds to a theory that has been circulating for some time. It says:
- Twitch gave Dr Disrespect the big contract in March after the rival platform Mixer lured away two of the biggest stars with Ninja and shroud for a lot of money. Twitch wanted to bind Dr Disrespect to itself and paid a lot for it.
- With the end of Mixer, Twitch seems to have regretted the contract and wanted to get out of it. Since there was no “serious competition” anymore, prices had changed as well. Therefore, they banned Dr Disrespect under a pretext and terminated the contract.
According to this logic, Dr Disrespect was the big loser of the end of Mixer, while Ninja and shroud benefited double and triple.
The reasoning about “saving salary” could therefore be quite plausible.
However, the comparison with the “cadet” does not quite fit: Twitch has signed some streamers exclusively before and after Dr Disrespect. However, these were people like Summit1g, shroud, Pokimane or Ninja, who have also been around on Twitch for a long time and are not “new cadets”.
Regarding his image of the “new cadet”, the rapper Logic would fit, but he surely was expensive too.
If Dr Disrespect’s comparison were really true, his contract would have had to be insane.
At the moment, it is unclear whether Twitch really banned the streamer for business reasons. Both parties remain “officially” silent on the case. In the background, a mediation process seems to be underway.
Furthermore, there is a theory circulating that Twitch separated from Dr Disrespect due to some controversial statements about Covid-19.
Dr Disrespect had spread some theses on Twitch in April that were categorized by the US site Kotaku as “right-wing conspiracy theories” in the context of Covid-19 (via kotaku). Dr Disrespect showed some clips and articles that touched on the topic of “herd immunity”. He urged his viewers at that time not just to be robots, but to engage with the subject.
Dr Disrespect is now streaming on YouTube and has impressive numbers there. He should actually be doing well again. However, that is not the case. He admitted that the Twitch ban is weighing heavily on him and that for the first time in his life, he is feeling pressure and has developed an anxiety disorder.
Dr Disrespect can’t cope with the Twitch ban; he has real problems.
