Update: Midnight Society co-founder Dr Disrespect admits to messaging minor on Twitch

Update (06/26/24): Midnight Society co-founder Guy Beahm (the streamer known as Dr Disrespect) has admitted he was banned from Twitch for messaging a minor.

Beahm was ousted from the studio earlier this week after it learned of an 'allegation' against him. Midnight Society didn't disclose the nature of the allegation, but the decision was made shortly after The Verge reported the steamer had been talking to a minor via Twitch's now-defunct messaging platform Whispers before he was banned in 2020.

Now, Beahm has addressed those allegations in a post on X and confirmed he sent messages to a minor in 2017.

"A lot of people have been left in the dark about what happened yesterday with midnight society and I, and we made the painful decision collectively, to have me step down. Our team is full of incredibly talented and good people that have high career ambitions and families and I'd never want jeopardize the culture we have carefully crafted," he wrote.

"Everyone has been wanting to know why I was banned from Twitch, but for reasons outside of my control, I was not allowed to say anything for the last several years Now that two former Twitch employees have publicly disclosed the accusations, I can now tell you my side of the story regarding the ban.

"Were there Twitch whisper messages with an individual minor back in 2017? The answer is yes. 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, but nothing more. Nothing illegal happened, no pictures were shared, no crimes were committed, I never even met the individual. I went through a lengthy arbitration regarding a civil dispute with Twitch and that case was resolved by a settlement. Let me be clear, it was not a criminal case against me and no criminal charges have ever been brought against me."

Beahm said he takes responsibility for his actions from a "moral standpoint" but denied being a "predator." He also issued an apology to both Midnight Society and his community of fans.

"I should have never entertained these conversations to begin with. That's on me. That's on me as an adult, a husband and a father. It should have never happened," he continues. "To my team, community, industry friends that have supported me, I apologize, I wish I could've said all this sooner."

You can read Beahm's full statement, which he edited twice (to remove the word 'minor' before eventually adding it back in), over on X.

Original story: Midnight Society co-founder Guy Beahm, better known as Dr Disrespect, has been ousted from the studio after company leadership become aware of "an allegation" against the popular streamer.

The studio was founded by a group of industry veterans including former Call of Duty lead Robert Bowling. It's currently working on a multiplayer 'vertical extraction shooter' and has scaled to over 50 employees.

"On Friday evening we became aware of an allegation against one of our co-founder’s Guy Beahm aka Dr Disrespect. We assumed his innocence and began speaking with parties involved. And in order to maintain our principles and standards as a studio and individuals, we needed to act," reads a statement shared by Midnight Society on X.

"For this reason, we are terminating our relationship with Guy Beahm immediately. While these facts are difficult to hear and even more difficult to accept, it is our duty to act with dignity on behalf of all individuals involved, especially the fifty-five developers and families we have employed along with our community of players."

Beahm was previously a mainstay on Twitch, but was banned from the streaming platform in 2020 without explanation. A recent report from The Verge published on June 23, 2024, alleges that ban was the result of messages sent by Beahm to a minor via (now defunct) Twitch messaging tool Whispers.

One former Twitch employee claims Beahm attempted to arrange a meeting with that person at TwitchCon. Those comments appear to corroborate an X post from Cody Conners, a former member of Twitch's strategic partnerships team, which states "he got banned because got caught sexting a minor in the then existing Twitch whispers product. He was trying to meet up with her at TwitchCon. The powers that be could read in plain text."

Conners didn't specifically name Beahm, but The Verge understands he was the subject of the post.

Beahm denied those allegations in an X post on June 22. "Listen, I'm obviously tied to legal obligations from the settlement with Twitch but I just need to say what I can say since this is the fucking internet," he wrote. "I didn’t do anything wrong, all this has been probed and settled, nothing illegal, no wrongdoing was found, and I was paid."

The streamer sued Twitch over his ban in 2020 before eventually settling over a year later. At that time, Beahm said "I have resolved my legal dispute with Twitch. No party admits to any wrongdoing.”