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Update 6/25/2024 1:01 PM Pacific Time: In addition to our relationship with Turtle Beach and FanDuel, IGN also reached out to Skybound Entertainment to ask about the status of its 2019 deal with Guy Beahm for a TV show based on his streamer persona, Dr. Disrespect. Skybound Entertainment responded with the following context, indicating that the project has been dead for some time: “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 its longtime partnership with popular streamer Guy Beahm, known as Dr Disrespect, following allegations that his 2020 ban from the Twitch platform was due to inappropriate messages sent to a minor.

The company sent the following statement to IGN in response to a request for comment about its relationship with the streamer following 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 dates back several years, with the company signing a multi-year deal in 2020 with the streamer through its accessories brand ROCCAT and signing another similar partnership deal in January 2023. Last fall, Turtle Beach released headphones with a Dr. Disrespect and company has been a consistent sponsor of Beahm’s YouTube live shows for the past few years. Dr Disrespect previously 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 has no current agreement with Beahm and that its most recent agreement ended in May. FanDuel did not provide further comment.

Beam was permanently banned from Twitch suddenly and unexpectedly in June 2020, almost exactly four years ago. At the time, the platform did not provide a reason for the ban, and Beam claimed that he himself was not aware of the reasons. He later sued Twitch over the ban in 2021 and the case was settled in 2022, but further details have not yet been released.

However, claims of the real reason for the ban surfaced last Friday, June 21, when former Twitch Account Director of Strategic Partnerships Cody Connors made a post on X/Twitter that was believed to refer to Beam (Disclosure: Connors worked briefly at IGN in 2011). In the post, Connors claimed Beam was banned for “sexting a minor on Twitch’s then-existing whisper product” and “attempting to meet her at TwitchCon.” The following Sunday, The Verge spoke with an additional former Twitch employee who confirmed that Connors’ claims were true and related to Beam.

He got banned because he was caught sending sex to an underage person on the then-existing Twitch whispers product. He was trying to meet her at TwitchCon. The strong could read in plain text.

Case closed, gang.

— Cody Connors (@evoli) June 22, 2024

Beam has since made a number of public statements saying “no wrongdoing was found,” including a direct response to a quoted tweet from Connors’ post. In a more pointed statement, Beam wrote: “Listen, obviously I’m bound by legal obligations from the Twitch agreement, but I just have to say what I can say because it’s the fucking internet. I did nothing wrong, it was all investigated and settled, nothing illegal, no wrongdoing was found and I was paid.”

Look, I’m obviously bound by legal obligations from the Twitch agreement, but I just have to say what I can say because it’s the fucking internet.

I did nothing wrong, this was all investigated and settled, nothing illegal, no wrongdoing found and I was paid.…

— Dr. Disrespect (@DrDisrespect) June 22, 2024

In a live Elden Ring show on Monday, Beam again addressed the allegations. “For those looking to me for an extension this weekend, they won’t. I’ve already said what I had to say. I don’t care about this guy,” he said, probably referring to Connors. “It is.”

Turtle Beach isn’t the only company to cut ties with Beahm following these allegations. On Monday, Midnight Society, the game development studio Beahm co-founded, issued a statement saying it was ending its relationship with Beahm after “conversation with the parties involved.”

“While these facts are hard to hear and even harder to accept, it is our duty to act with dignity on behalf of all involved, especially the fifty-five developers and families we have hired along with our community of players” , the statement, which you can read in full below, continues.

On Friday night, we learned of an indictment against Guy Beam, aka Dr. Disspect, one of our co-founders.

We assumed he was innocent and started talking to the parties involved. And to uphold our principles and standards as a studio and as individuals, we had to act…

— Midnight Society (@12am) June 24, 2024

IGN reached out to Beahm for further comment, but did not hear back. Twitch and YouTube also did not respond to IGN’s request for comment.

Rebecca Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

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