YouTube Suspends Monetization of Dr. Disrespect’s Channel After ‘Serious Allegations’

YouTube has officially stopped monetizing the channel of Guy Beahm, the popular streamer known as Dr Disrespect, amid continuing 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 said in a statement to IGN. “This action means that the channel can no longer monetize YouTube.”

YouTube added that it had taken action against Beahm’s channel “for violating our terms.” Creator Responsibility PolicyThe policy, a company spokesperson notes, says that if a creator’s off-platform behavior “harms our users, employees, or ecosystem, we may take action to protect our community, including suspending monetization.” A creator also can’t create new or replacement channels while their current channel is suspended from the YouTube Partner Program.

YouTube’s confirmation comes after several On social media He noted Thursday evening that Beahm’s channel no longer has monetization features, including paid memberships. It also comes a week after new details continued to emerge surrounding the circumstances of Beahm’s 2020 ban from Twitch.

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 worked briefly at IGN in 2011.) While Conners did not mention Beahm by name, reports in the edge And Bloomberg He confirmed that he was indeed referring to the famous streaming device, confirming Conners’ account and providing more details.

The latest report came earlier on Thursday via Rolling StoneAnother 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 quotes Ryan Wyatt, Google’s former global head of gaming partnerships, who said that YouTube Gaming did not offer Beahm a contract due to the rumors surrounding his Twitch ban.

For his part, Beam issued a lengthy statement about the accusations against him x/twitter on Tuesday, admitting that he had sent a message to a minor via Twitch Whispers in 2017, and that those messages “sometimes leaned very much toward being inappropriate.” But he added that “nothing illegal happened, no images were shared, and 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 the 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 gaming studio co-founded by Beahm, has also ended its relationship with him.

Thumbnail credit: Kevin Sabitos/Getty Images

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