For a long time, Guy “DrDisrespect” Beahm was one of the biggest streamers on Twitch and moved to YouTube after his ban. Here, despite prior professional consequences, he ranks second among the biggest streamers in YouTube Gaming.
What was the scandal surrounding DrDisrespect? In 2020, DrDisrespect was banned from the Twitch platform without apparent reason. And it was forever. The fact that DrDisrespect was one of the platform’s biggest streamers left the community puzzled over the years.
The reason only came to light in 2024: In 2017, the streamer allegedly exchanged inappropriate messages with a minor via the Twitch whisper function. Numerous consequences followed for DrDisrespect: He lost, among other things, monetization on YouTube, his company ended its collaboration with him, and many fellow streamers distanced themselves from him.
Initially, he partially admitted to the allegations and returned to live streaming on YouTube after a break that lasted 74 days. However, he denied the allegations again here.
Before it became known why DrDisrespect was banned from Twitch, this was the state of information for a long time:
DrDisrespect ranks second in YouTube Gaming rankings
How successful is DrDisrespect nonetheless? On X, the analysis site Stream Charts posted the top streamers in YouTube Gaming from the USA for the year 2024. DrDisrespect takes second place in this statistic with a total watch time of 14.08 million hours over approximately 556 hours of streaming time.
The statistics accounted for the period from January 1, 2024, to September, including the time before the real reasons for DrDisrespect’s ban became known. The topic only became prominent in June 2024.
While he does not catch up to IShowSpeed, who has 24.97 million hours, he can still prove that he has held up very well despite his scandal. Had he not taken a two-month break, this number would likely have been even higher.
Why is the watch time so high despite the scandal? The high watch time does not necessarily mean that every viewer is a fan of DrDisrespect.
Curiosity about further statements seems to have contributed to the high watch time. During his comeback stream, the streamer was also able to record high viewer numbers.
Over time, some envious viewers may have also joined, waiting for the streamer to say something that is somehow negative. With his controversy, DrDisrespect might have attracted such people.
Furthermore, the high watch time does not mean that DrDisrespect is still earning as much money as before. After all, YouTube has disabled monetization on his channel.
What does this mean for the future? In the future, it remains to be seen whether viewer numbers and watch time will continue to stay so high. It may well be that such high interest in him exists only because of his comeback. Whether DrDisrespect can simply continue as before will have to be seen.
One might think that the controversy surrounding DrDisrespect has hardly affected him at all. His viewer numbers and watch time are still strong, especially when looking at the figures from 2022: Twitch banned 2 of its most famous streamers, but cannot stop their success – For they dominated YouTube in 2022
