Dr Disrespect fired by the game studio he co-founded: 'It is our duty to act with dignity on behalf of all individuals involved'
Midnight Society co-founder Guy Beahm, better known as the mustache-and-sunglasses streamer Dr Disrespect, says he's going to "step away" from streaming, and from his position at the studio, following allegations that his lifetime ban from Twitch was imposed after he was discovered sexting a minor and attempting to arrange a meetup at TwitchCon.
Immediately after the conclusion of the stream, Midnight Society announced that "we are terminating our relationship with Guy Beahm immediately."
Beahm delivered his message at the end of a livestream today, saying he's "feeling a little fatigued," and growing tired of being on social media.
"Over the years it's been drained out of me, been drained out of my family and I," Beahm said, noting that he's been livestreaming since 2009. "And I just feel like—I had the mindset of, let's just see what happens today, how we're feeling. And I'll tell you, I'm just feeling burned out. Maybe it's time to start something new, something different. Challenge those creative senses. A desire to explore different realms, if you will."
Beahm said he's had a planned vacation coming up for a while now, and that he "might just extend that, starting today, starting right now."
The streamer concluded by saying that his "vacation" will be not just from streaming, but from his Midnight Society duties as well. "When I say step away, I think—I mean I'm gonna have to relay this to the Midnight Society, but I, you know—maybe I step away from there too. Just completely remove myself from the scene. It's what I need to do."
Beahm's message about stepping back from streaming and Midnight Society begins at 3:13:00.
It sounds more like what he was forced to do, however. Beahm dismissed the allegations against him during the livestream, saying he hadn't done anything wrong and that "all this has been probed and settled." But as soon as the stream was over Midnight Society announced on Twitter that Beahm is no longer a part of the project.
"On Friday evening we became aware of an allegation against one of our co-founder’s Guy Beahm aka Dr Disrespect," the studio said on Twitter. "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. 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."
I've reached out to Midnight Society for more information and will update if I receive a reply.