By all accountable metrics, Guy ‘Dr Disrespect’ Beahm is one of the most popular streamers period–he may rank on the lower side in terms of follower count, but where he lacks that, he makes it up with strong concurrent viewership on a consistent basis. With that much influence however comes the question of how to wield it, and judging by a recent untimely ban from Twitch, it’s not so clear he’s always given it his best answer.
But first, a primer on the Doc is in order–for those familiar with Twitch or streaming in general, it’s almost impossible to not know who Dr Disrespect is. He started out on YouTube doing Call of Duty videos, managed to land a temporary gig as a map designer for Sledgehammer Games, then came back to streaming as he refocused the latter part of his career on a mixture of battle royale games and other competitive shooters–his ability to adapt in an ever-changing environment is just one of the many reasons he managed to stick the course when many of his peers have otherwise backslid into obscurity.
The nature of Dr Disrespect’s fame is quite unique for a creator of his caliber–the Doc takes pride in being able to retain attention, regardless if the means by which he does so are charitable or not. He likes to project an aura of menace by straying away from mainstream norms, but he’s not opposed to offerings of adulation either–it’s the perfect confluence of two paradoxical interpretations of his personality that make him as infectious and impossible to ignore by fans and detractors alike.
To keep eyeballs stuck on him, the Doc isn’t one to spare on theatrics–unfortunately for him, he’s not always successful at keeping his antics under the radar, and in a shocking moment from E3 of last year, he was banned from Twitch for violating California’s privacy laws and the company’s own terms-of-services. That ban was rather temporary, as have been all of the platform’s slaps on the Doc’s wrist in the past, but something changed recently where Twitch decided to do away with all the trouble and just ban the creator unprompted–theories varied as to why, but one of the most compelling remains that Twitch didn’t want to assume liability for a #MeToo…
