YouTube suspends monetization of Dr Disrespect’s channel “after serious allegations”

YouTube has officially suspended monetization of Guy Beahm, the popular streamer known as Dr Disrespect, amid ongoing reports surrounding his 2020 ban from Twitch and his alleged sexually explicit messages to a minor.

“We have suspended the DrDisrespect channel from the YouTube Partner Program following serious allegations against the creator,” a YouTube spokesperson told IGN in a statement. “This action means the channel will no longer be able to monetize on YouTube.”

YouTube added that it had taken action on Behm’s channel “for violating our policy.” Creator Responsibility PolicyThe policy means, as the spokesperson notes, that if a creator’s off-platform behavior “harms users, employees, or our ecosystem, we may take action to protect our community, including suspending monetization.” A creator also cannot create channels New or replacement videos while their current channel is suspended from the YouTube Partner Program.

YouTube’s confirmation comes after several… On social media Twitch indicated on Thursday evening that Beahm’s channel no longer has monetization features, including paid memberships. This comes after a week of ongoing new details surrounding the circumstances of Beahm’s ban from Twitch in 2020.

Last Friday, former Twitch employee Cody Conners wrote in a post on x/twitter Beahm was banned from the streaming platform almost exactly four years ago for “sexting” a minor via Twitch’s Whispers feature and trying to meet them at TwitchCon (Disclosure: Conners briefly worked at IGN in 2011). While Conners did not mention Beam by name, reports have suggested that the edge And Bloomberg He confirmed that he was indeed referring to the famous broadcast device, corroborating Conners’ account and providing more details.

The latest report came earlier on Thursday via rolling stone, where another former Twitch employee told the outlet that Beahm knew the minor he was messaging was underage, and continued to send them sexually explicit messages anyway. The report also quoted Ryan Wyatt, former global head of gaming partnerships at Google, who said YouTube Gaming did not offer Beahm a contract due to rumors surrounding his ban on Twitch.

For his part, Beyhem issued a lengthy statement regarding the accusations against him. X/Twitter On Tuesday, he admitted that he sent a message to a minor via Twitch Whispers in 2017, and that those messages “sometimes leaned a lot towards being inappropriate.” But he added that “nothing illegal happened, no images were shared, no crimes were committed,” and also pointed to his 2021 lawsuit against Twitch over the ban, which was resolved in 2022.

Twitch has remained mum on the revelations in recent days despite multiple requests for comment. Today’s statement marks the first public comment on the situation from YouTube, where Beahm has been streaming for the past several years. Beam was last broadcast on Monday, where he indicated he would be taking an extended vacation, but said in his statement on Tuesday that he would be back.

While it’s rare for YouTube to take such a dis-monetization action against a channel as large as Beahm’s, it’s not unprecedented. The platform has previously applied this policy to other popular creators’ channels including Russell Brand, David DobrikAnd James Charles.

The suspension is the latest in a series of ongoing fallout in response to the allegations surrounding Beahm and his ban from Twitch. Previously, partners and sponsors such as Turtle Beach, 2K, and the San Francisco 49ers have cut ties with the streamer, and Midnight Society, the game studio Beahm co-founded, has also ended its relationship with him.

Thumbnail source: Kevin Sabetus/Getty Images

Alex Steadman is IGN’s senior news editor, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not busy writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.