The Rise And Fall Of Dr Disrespect

Following the everyday lives of content creators has become a hobby for fans of the medium. With the advent of Twitch and the boom of competing livestreaming platforms, some content creators have integrated their personal lives into their brands more than ever before, making fans feel closer to them than ever. However, not every streamer operates on this principle. Some still very intentionally play a character while streaming or making videos, creating a public persona far different from who they are. While one might think this would dissuade prying eyes from looking any deeper, it can often do the opposite. Fans tend to get curious and want to know who the person behind the character is, especially if they're a "faceless" streamer or they have a wacky costume.

Sadly, when the mask finally falls and the person behind the channel is revealed, they're rarely who fans thought it would be. Learning too much about a streamer or influencer can often be disappointing, even heartbreaking. This is the case for Herschel "Guy" Beahm IV, a creator who rose to popularity as Dr Disrespect and lost much of his influence after admitting to sending inappropriate messages to a minor. This is the story of how Dr Disrespect created a streaming empire — and how it all came crashing down.

Herschel "Guy" Beahm IV was born on March 10, 1982. He attended California State Polytechnic University for Business Administration, where he also played basketball at the Division II level. Around this time, online multiplayer video games were just starting to really blow up with titles like "Halo 2" and "Call of Duty." It was the former of these two games that first pulled Beahm into the competitive gaming scene. Beahm became notorious among "Halo" players due to his intense personality and attitude, which fellow players found to be both abrasive and comedic. This early character work and his interactions with fans effectively became a working prototype for the eventual Dr Disrespect character. However, a little more time and a major life change would pass before Beahm donned the iconic mustache for the first time.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Beahm explained the origins of Dr Disrespect in more detail: "He started as a voice in 'Halo 2.' In that game, there was proximity chat, where you could talk to the enemy if you are near them," he said. "I just went with that dominant character because I was fairly good at the game ... it got to the point where those same people that I would defeat would message me ... and they would be laughing, saying how much fun that was."

After purchasing a wig, fake mustache, and sunglasses from a costume shop, the character of Dr Disrespect made his first appearance on YouTube in a 2010 video entitled "Dr DisRespect Gaming: The Docs Very 1st Video." Beahm made a huge first impression as he played "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" in character. Despite still being in the relative early days of YouTube, the concept and Beahm's performance proved to be a recipe for success. The character was noticed by Machinima, leading to Beahm joining the entertainment company as a partnered creator and director of content. During his time with the company, Beahm continued to produce videos as his character, which continued to evolve.

In 2011, Beahm revealed that he would be moving on from Machinima to become a community manager for Sledgehammer Games. However, as Dr Disrespect quipped in the description of his first video, "The second you contemplate your next move, you are already dead." It seems Beahm also applied this line of thinking to his career, as he continued to move from opportunity to opportunity.

It didn't take long before Beahm's responsibilities at Sledgehammer were expanded, as he quickly became a level designer for "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare." With his skills in business management and content creation, it seemed like nothing could stop him. Based on a few statements posted around the time he joined Sledgehammer, he clearly saw the job as a positive turning point in his career. "I am extremely honored to be a part of such a talented group of game makers," Beahm said in a blog post from the dev. "It's a dream job to join this team and I thank Glen and Michael for giving me such a great opportunity. While it was entertaining to develop content through the Dr  Disrespect character, it's time for him to retire." 

As we already know, this did not happen. It was during this time working at Sledgehammer Games that Beahm joined Justin.tv (later known as Twitch), taking Dr Disrespect away from his typical video format and bringing him into the age of video game livestreaming. Beahm continued to work with Sledgehammer Games until 2015 before switching to streaming as a full-time gig, officially choosing Dr Disrespect over his career developing "Call of Duty."

Justin.tv was clearly the perfect place for a character like Dr Disrespect to thrive and flourish, at least in those days. With his over-the-top commentary and an already-impressive following, Beahm found success on the platform almost immediately. Within a few short years of leaving Sledgehammer, Dr Disrespect reached heights of popularity that very few streamers had previously reached.

Around 2016, a new genre of video game was overtaking the attention of the streaming industry: the battle royale. Games like "PUBG" and "H1Z1" proved to be the perfect fit for streamers, providing plenty of downtime to talk to viewers between short bursts of high-stakes action. This format also proved to be a match made in heaven for Beahm's gaming persona. Viewership for Dr Disrespect continued to rise dramatically. In both 2017 and 2019, the entertainer also won Streamer of the Year at the Esports Awards, showing just how popular he had become in a relatively short time.

Having a massive following is one thing, but being able to capitalize on this level of success and keep up that momentum is an entirely different can of worms. Beahm sought to maintain his foothold by pushing Dr Disrespect into the realm of high-dollar sponsorships and brand deals. It wasn't hard to find companies who were excited to partner with the streamer, thanks largely to his viewership figures. Throughout his time as a streamer, Dr Disrespect was not only representing huge gaming-related companies like Razor and G-Fuel, but household names like Gillette. For the latter, Dr Disrespect would feature in one of their commercials, singing his special version of the company's old 1989 commercial.

A few years after blowing up on Twitch, Beahm and Dr Disrespect started pursuing many other business endeavors outside of the typical brand partnerships. In 2019, he signed a contract with talent agency CAA, which told The Hollywood Reporter that it aimed to "work with him on areas including television, motion pictures, touring, digital distribution, partnerships, endorsements, personal appearances and publishing." At this point, Dr Disrespect was becoming more than just a popular streamer. He was on his way to becoming a bonafide mainstream celebrity.

Not everything was good for Dr Disrespect behind the scenes, however. Although his business endeavors were thriving, Beahm's personal life took some serious hits. Beahm broke character for a special broadcast in 2017, at which time he revealed in a short message that he had been unfaithful to his wife, whom fans had come to know by the name of Mrs. Assassin. Many of his longtime viewers were upset with the creator, feeling he let them down, in addition to his family. The streamer said he needed some time away from the daily routine to put things right, and some predicted it would be the end for Dr Disrespect.

Dr Disrespect eventually announced his return after taking a short break for his mental health, much to the excitement of his fans. This return stream would prove to be a massive success, showing the huge levels of support that Dr Disrespect still had at the time. This stream also marked his all-time record of 387,000 concurrent viewers. It seemed like the Doc was ready to leave the negative stuff behind, but another setback was still yet to come.

Dr Disrespect came under fire once again in 2019, when he earned his first suspension from Twitch for a joke that went a little too far. Dr Disrespect filmed some of his first IRL streams as he covered the E3 gaming convention. Unfortunately, Beahm continued his livestream even when entering a public bathroom. In the video (which has since been scrubbed from Dr Disrespect's channels), people can be seen using urinals in the background, including an individual who appears to be a child. As you might have guessed, this was a violation of Twitch's guidelines, leading to Beahm getting banned from the platform for two weeks. Dr Disrespect's E3 badge was also revoked.

While many thought that filming in the bathroom was an ill-advised move, a great number of Dr Disrespect fans came to his defense following the incident. "When I was watching it I did think this is a bit weird. To be fair though doc wasn't filming." wrote one fan in response to the news, arguing that the cameraman should have known better. However, even some of the members of the Dr Disrespect subreddit were disappointed by Dr Disrespect's actions. "Its just common decency to NOT film people in a bathroom, huge invasion of privacy, very gross." wrote another fan. Beahm once again broke character to apologize for the incident in a post on X (then Twitter), explaining that he and his crew simply got too caught up in the excitement of the day.

Dr Disrespect also found himself in hot water when he was accused of racism towards the Asian community. During his streams, Dr Disrespect used to occasionally use a stereotypically offensive "Chinese" accent, ostensibly as a joke. Actor and musician Jimmy Wong did not find this nearly as funny as Doc did, and chastised Dr Disrespect for his lack of accountability in a now-deleted post (via Kotaku). Wong wrote, "He clearly thought he crossed the line with cheating on his wife, but racism? Guess he finds that ok." Beahm later responded on stream, "Got friends I can call right now that are multicultural, multiracial, I love it, I love it. Mrs. Assassin, my wife, [is] multiracial, all the way from the small island of Molokai." For many, having a diverse friend group wasn't a strong-enough defense.

In 2020, Dr Disrespect was taken to task for sharing controversial conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19 and 5G towers. During the early days of the COVID pandemic, Dr Disrespect argued for prematurely ending lockdowns and reopening the United States. He also shared videos endorsing the idea that 5G cell towers were somehow connected to the spread of COVID-19, a move that many saw as irresponsible, considering his huge viewership.

In March 2020, Dr Disrespect signed a multi-year exclusivity deal with Twitch, cementing his place as an invaluable streamer on the platform. At this time, Beahm boasted over 4 million followers on Twitch and an average of more than 24,000 concurrent viewers per stream. This massive multi-year deal showed that Twitch was committed to growing the Dr Disrespect brand, though this would all change in a short amount of time.

On June 26, 2020, Dr Disrespect received a permanent ban from Twitch, abruptly leaving in the middle of a stream and disappearing altogether for a short time. No official statement was released by either party, leaving many confused as to why such a big streamer would be removed permanently from the platform. Fans started speculating with wild theories to get to the bottom of the ban, with some pointing to his behavior in the weeks preceding the ban as the likely culprit. "I'm still convinced they banned him for talking about 5G and COVID conspiracies on stream," one fan speculated. Others were convinced that Twitch got rid of Beahm as a cost-saving measure. Some suspected something more sinister at play. In the end, almost nobody seems to have guessed the actual reason for the ban — which wouldn't be revealed until 2024.

After his ban, rather than retiring the character, Beahm moved shop to Twitch's largest competitor, YouTube Gaming. During this time, Beahm continued to imply that had no idea why he was removed from Twitch, but vowed to continue his streaming career like normal. He never officially signed a contract with YouTube Gaming, but many of his fans followed him to the new platform as he rebuilt his brand. Many predicted that his career would take an insurmountable hit at this stage, but Dr Disrespect still received respectable viewership numbers on YouTube.

As for Twitch, Beahm indicated on multiple occasions that he originally wanted to pursue legal action against the platform for his ban. However, in March 2022, Beahm gave fans a surprising update to the ban drama, releasing a statement reading, "I have resolved my legal dispute with Twitch. No party admits to any wrongdoing." Although the strangely worded statement drew more speculation from onlookers, there seemed to be no hard feelings between the streamer and Twitch. However, Beahm also announced that he would not be returning to Twitch.

Moving on. pic.twitter.com/aA4KfHOSK2

— Dr Disrespect (@DrDisrespect) March 10, 2022

Although the ban ended his future plans with Twitch, it didn't halt Dr Disrespect's other business endeavors, including his ventures in creating and influencing video games. Over the next few years, Dr Disrespect worked with companies like Hi-Rez Studios and 2K, resulting in games like "NBA 2K23" and "Rogue Company" adding character skins based on his online persona. His previous work in the gaming industry laid the groundwork for a perfect opportunity for Beahm to continue doing what helped him become popular in the first place. In addition to games, Dr Disrespect released a bourbon called Black Steel and published a book, "Violence. Speed. Momentum."

One of his most ambitious projects was revealed in 2021, when Beahm announced that he was a cofounder of a game studio, Midnight Society. The studio features many ex-"Halo" and "Call of Duty" developers and aims to focus heavily on fostering a community among gamers, with its first project being a vertical extraction shooter called "Deadrop."

In June 2024, the reasoning behind Dr Disrespect's 2020 Twitch ban was finally revealed as multiple parties accused Beahm of sending inappropriate messages to a minor using Twitch's now-defunct Whisper function. The story first broke when former Twitch employee Cody Conners accused the Doc in a post on X, adding, "He was trying to meet up with her at TwitchCon." Following this post, several sources seemingly corroborated Conners' account.

Beahm denied these accusations at first, stating that everything had already been settled between himself and Twitch. However, he eventually released a statement on the Dr Disrespect X account confirming the ban reason: "Were there Twitch Whisper messages with an individual minor back in 2017? The answer is yes," he posted. "These were casual, mutual conversations that sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate, but nothing more." Although many were hoping for an easier answer, most onlookers now view the ban as justifiable.

After the reason for his ban was revealed, YouTube demonetized his channel, virtually ending his reason for returning to the platform. Additionally, Dr Disrespect lost multiple business deals, with almost every previous partner severing ties. Beahm stepped down from Midnight Society and multiple games removed character skins depicting his streaming persona. Beahm's longtime streaming friends reacted harshly to the scandal as well, with TimTheTatman and NickMercs publicly distancing themselves from him.

Although some viewers still support him, a large majority of fans have turned their backs on Dr Disrespect. Many predict that this will be the end of Beahm's streaming career, but it seems the streamer will not be going away quietly. Roughly a month after the scandal broke out, Dr Disrespect began making posts on X that hint at an imminent return. 

pic.twitter.com/vlEk7Yawog

— Dr Disrespect (@DrDisrespect) July 31, 2024