Update 6/25/2024 1:01 PM PT: In addition to our outreach to Turtle Beach and FanDuel, IGN also approached Skybound Entertainment to ask about the status of its 2019 deal with Guy Beahm for a television show based on his streamer persona, Dr Disrespect. Skybound Entertainment replied with the following context, indicating that the project has been dead for some time now: "In 2019 we explored the idea of developing content with Beahm but did not move forward."
Original story: Gaming headset and accessory company Turtle Beach has ended a longtime partnership with popular streamer Guy Beahm, known as Dr Disrespect, following allegations that his ban from the Twitch platform in 2020 was due to inappropriate messages sent to a minor.
The company sent the following statement to IGN in response to a request for comment on its relationship with the streamer in the wake of the allegations: "We will not be continuing our partnership with Guy Beahm/DrDisRespect." Turtle Beach did not provide further comment.
Beahm's partnership with Turtle Beach goes back several years, with the company having signed a multi-year deal in 2020 with the streamer via its ROCCAT accessories brand, and having signed another similar partnership deal in January of 2023. Last fall, Turtle Beach rolled out a Dr Disrespect-themed headset, and the company has consistently been a sponsor of Beahm's YouTube livestreams throughout the last several years. Previously, Dr Disrespect had a dedicated merchandise page on the Turtle Beach website with a number of branded items, but the page and its items appear to have been taken down as of this morning.
IGN also reached out to gambling platform FanDuel, which has sponsored several of Beahm's streams in recent months. A spokesperson told IGN that the company does not have a current agreement with Beahm and that its last agreement finished in May. FanDuel provided no further comment.
Beahm was permanently banned from Twitch suddenly and unexpectedly in June of 2020, almost exactly four years ago. At the time, the platform did not provide the reason for the ban and Beahm claimed he himself was unaware of the motivations. He later sued Twitch over the ban in 2021, and the lawsuit was settled in 2022, but further details were still not made public.
However, allegations of the true reason for the ban surfaced this past Friday, June 21, when former Twitch account director of strategic partnerships Cody Conners made a post on X/Twitter that was widely assumed to refer to Beahm (Disclosure: Conners briefly worked at IGN in 2011). In the post, Conners alleges that Beahm was banned for "sexting a minor in the then existing Twitch whispers product" and "trying to meet up with her at TwitchCon." The following Sunday, The Verge spoke with an additional former Twitch employee who affirmed Conners' allegations were both true and referred to Beahm.
He got banned because got caught sexting a minor in the then existing Twitch whispers product. He was trying to meet up with her at TwitchCon. The powers that be could read in plain text.
— Cody Conners (@evoli) June 22, 2024
Case closed, gang.
Beahm has since made a number of public statements stating that "no wrongdoing was found," including a direct reply to a quote tweet of Conners' post. In a more explicit statement, Beahm wrote, "Listen, I’m obviously tied to legal obligations from the settlement with Twitch but I just need to say what I can say since this is the fucking internet. I didn’t do anything wrong, all this has been probed and settled, nothing illegal, no wrongdoing was found, and I was paid."
Listen, I’m obviously tied to legal obligations from the settlement with Twitch but I just need to say what I can say since this is the fucking internet.
— Dr Disrespect (@DrDisrespect) June 22, 2024
I didn’t do anything wrong, all this has been probed and settled, nothing illegal, no wrongdoing was found, and I was paid.…
In a livestream of Elden Ring on Monday, Beahm addressed the allegations again. “For those that are looking for me to expand on this weekend, not gonna. Already said what I needed to say. I don’t give a fuck about this guy,” he said, likely referring to Conners. “That’s it.”
Turtle Beach is not the only company to cut ties to Beahm in the wake of these allegations. On Monday Midnight Society, the game development studio Beahm co-founded, issued a statement saying it was terminating its relationship with Beahm after "speaking with parties involved."
"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," the statement, which you can read in full below, continues.
On Friday evening we became aware of an allegation against one of our co-founder’s Guy Beahm aka Dr Disrespect.
— Midnight Society (@12am) June 24, 2024
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.…
IGN has reached out to Beahm for additional comment but has not heard back. Twitch and YouTube have also not responded to IGN's request for comment.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Blogroll image credit: Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images
source https://www.ign.com/articles/how-dr-disrespects-sponsors-and-partners-are-responding-to-twitch-ban-allegations-updated