YouTube demonetized Dr Disrespect over allegations from earlier Twitch ban
Since being banned from Twitch four years ago, streamer Dr Disrespect has amassed millions of subscribers at his new home on YouTube.
However, now that the reason behind his Twitch ban has become public, Dr Disrespect may have to find yet another new platform to stream on.
YouTube has confirmed that it has suspended Dr Disrespect, whose real name is Herschel "Guy" Beahm, from its Partner Program, effectively demonetizing his channel.
"We have suspended DrDisrespect’s channel from the YouTube Partner Program following serious allegations against the creator," reads a statement provided to news outlets by a YouTube spokesperson. "This action means the channel is no longer able to monetize on YouTube."
What did Dr Disrespect do?
Beahm aka Dr Disrespect was a popular Twitch streamer until he was banned from the platform in 2020. For years, the reason for his ban was unknown to the public.
Then on June 21, a former Twitch employee seemingly confirmed why Dr Disrespect was exiled from the platform where he had millions of followers: The streamer had allegedly been exchanging inappropriate messages via Twitch with a minor.
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The potential reason behind Dr Disrespect's 2020 Twitch ban quickly became a trending story online. Forced to address the issue, Beahm first attempted to brush off the allegations before issuing a second statement confirming that he did exchange "inappropriate" messages with a minor via a since-shuttered Twitch messaging feature.
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"Were there twitch whisper messages with an individual minor back in 2017? The answer is yes," Beahm posted on his @DrDisrespect account on Elon Musk's X. "Were there real intentions behind these messages, the answer is absolutely not. These were casual, mutual conversations that sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate."
Why was Dr Disrespect demonetized on YouTube?
Even though Beahm's inappropriate conduct with a minor occurred on Twitch, his confirmation of the allegations meant that YouTube now had a legitimate reason to suspend him from the company's own monetization program.
"Our Creator Responsibility Guidelines are clear that if a creator’s off-platform behavior harms our users, employees, or ecosystem, we may take action to protect our community, including by suspending monetization," reads YouTube's statement on the demonetization of Dr Disrespect's YouTube channel. "While these behaviors are rare, they can cause widespread harm to the YouTube community, and potentially damage the trust among creators, users, and advertisers.”
It's unclear just how much Beahm will lose due to his Dr Disrespect channel being demonetized. Estimates from YouTube analytics platform SocialBlade place the channel's revenue at as much as six figures per year. However, these estimates don't account for Beahm's losses as a result of losing exclusive partnership deals.
While Beahm says Twitch ended up paying him out for the partnership deal that the two parties had as part of the settlement, a Rolling Stone report found that Beahm lost out on a potential similar deal with YouTube.
Former YouTube head of gaming partnerships, Ryan Wyatt, told the news outlet that the company couldn't independently confirm the allegations years ago. But, the rumors YouTube had heard concerning Beahm's inappropriate interactions with a minor resulted in the company dropping any pursuit of a partnership deal with the streamer.
Now, we know that those rumors were true. As a result, Beahm not only lost any sort of exclusive deal with YouTube, but also basic creator monetization on the Dr Disrespect YouTube channel.