Turtle Beach Ends Partnership With Dr Disrespect Following Twitch Ban Allegations

Gaming headset and accent firm Turtle Beach has ended a longtime partnership with in style streamer Guy Beahm, referred to as Dr Disrespect, following allegations that his ban from the Twitch platform in 2020 was attributable to inappropriate messages despatched to a minor.

The firm despatched the next assertion to IGN in response to a request for touch upon its relationship with the streamer within the wake of the allegations: “We won’t be persevering with our partnership with Guy Beahm/DrDisRespect.” Turtle Beach didn’t present additional remark.

Beahm’s partnership with Turtle Beach goes again a number of years, with the corporate having signed a multi-year deal in 2020 with the streamer through its ROCCAT equipment model, and having signed one other similar partnership deal in January of 2023. Last fall, Turtle Beach rolled out a Dr Disrespect-themed headset, and the corporate has persistently been a sponsor of Beahm’s YouTube livestreams all through the final a number of years. Previously, Dr Disrespect had a devoted merchandise web page on the Turtle Beach web site with plenty of branded gadgets, however the web page and its gadgets seem to have been taken down as of this morning.

IGN additionally reached out to playing platform FanDuel, which has sponsored a number of of Beahm’s streams in current months. A spokesperson informed IGN that the corporate doesn’t have a present settlement with Beahm and that its final settlement completed in May. FanDuel supplied no additional remark.

Beahm was completely banned from Twitch abruptly and unexpectedly in June of 2020, nearly precisely 4 years in the past. At the time, the platform didn’t present the explanation for the ban and Beahm claimed he himself was unaware of the motivations. He later sued Twitch over the ban in 2021, and the lawsuit was settled in 2022, however additional particulars had been nonetheless not made public.

However, allegations of the true purpose for the ban surfaced this previous Friday, June 21, when former Twitch account director of strategic partnerships Cody Conners made a put up on X/Twitter that was extensively assumed to check with Beahm (Disclosure: Conners briefly labored at IGN in 2011). In the put up, Conners alleges that Beahm was banned for “sexting a minor within the then present Twitch whispers product” and “attempting to fulfill up along with her at TwitchCon.” The following Sunday, The Verge spoke with a further former Twitch worker who affirmed Conners’ allegations had been each true and referred to Beahm.

Beahm has since made plenty of public statements stating that “no wrongdoing was discovered,” together with a direct reply to a quote tweet of Conners’ put up. In a extra express assertion, Beahm wrote, “Listen, I’m clearly tied to authorized obligations from the settlement with Twitch however I simply must say what I can say since that is the fucking web. I didn’t do something mistaken, all this has been probed and settled, nothing unlawful, no wrongdoing was discovered, and I used to be paid.”

In a livestream of Elden Ring on Monday, Beahm addressed the allegations once more. “For these which can be searching for me to develop on this weekend, not gonna. Already mentioned what I wanted to say. I don’t give a fuck about this man,” he said, probably referring to Conners. “That’s it.”

Turtle Beach shouldn’t be the one firm to chop ties to Beahm within the wake of those allegations. On Monday Midnight Society, the sport growth studio Beahm co-founded, issued a press release saying it was terminating its relationship with Beahm after “talking with events concerned.”

“While these information are tough to listen to and much more tough to just accept, it’s our responsibility to behave with dignity on behalf of all people concerned, particularly the fifty-five builders and households we have now employed together with our neighborhood of gamers,” the assertion, which you’ll be able to learn in full beneath, continues.

IGN has reached out to Beahm for added remark however has not heard again. Twitch and YouTube have additionally not responded to IGN’s request for remark.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a narrative tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

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