Since June 2020, the reasons for the brutal ban from Twitch of American videographer Herschel Beahm, known online under the pseudonym DrDisRespect, have never been publicly discussed. The live video platform, a subsidiary of Amazon, simply declared that it had taken “appropriate action when we have evidence that a streamer has acted in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service”. At the time, the exclusion of this star streamer, easily identifiable thanks to his disguise made of a full black mustache, a mullet-cut wig and enormous sunglasses, caused a lot of noise.
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Four years later, in a long message published on the social network “informal (…) which were tending in an inappropriate direction” with a minor on Twitch messaging. Confessions triggered by another message, also published on X, on June 22, from a former employee of the streaming platform. Without referring directly to Herschel Beahm, he mentioned being excluded from Twitch due to “messages of a sexual nature” sent to a minor.
Since then, three people “close to the file” confirmed to the American press agency Bloomberg that it was indeed DrDisRespect. The videographer also allegedly tried to meet the recipient of his messages during a convention organized by Twitch.
“I am not a pedophile”
Herschel Beahm tried, in vain, to brush aside the scandal. In 2022, he declared that he had reached a legal agreement with the streaming service, noting that“no part[avait admis] having committed any wrongdoing”. More recently, on June 22, DrDisRespect stated on his X account “that this file [avait] been settled »without directly recognizing the facts.
Two days later, during a video game session devoted to Elden Ring : Shadow of the Erdtreethe streamer who now has 4.7 million subscribers on YouTube announced that he would ” pause “ by invoking a “feeling of overwork”. “I’m not a fucking predator or a pedophile”he defended himself the next day on X. “There was nothing illegal, no photos were shared, no crimes were committed, I never met this person”he added, before concluding his message by evoking “extended leave”.
Herschel Beahm worked between 2011 and 2014 for the video game studio Sledgehammer Games, which developed episodes of the shooter series Call of Duty. He created the character DrDisRespect on YouTube in the early 2010s, then launched a career as a streamer in the field of video games from 2014. A talented player embodying a character with an oversized ego, he attracted an English-speaking audience of more than 4 million subscribers on Twitch.
Having become an essential star of the platform, he then established advertising partnerships, notably with the American football team San Francisco 49ers or the soda brands Pepsi and Mountain Dew. He also co-founded the video game studio Midnight Society, behind the little-known shooter Deadrop. The company announced on June 24 “having put an end to [leur] collaboration ».
