Skip to main content

Game studio co-founded by Dr Disrespect ‘immediately’ terminating relationship with the streamer

Game studio co-founded by Dr Disrespect ‘immediately’ terminating relationship with the streamer

/

The termination came shortly after the YouTuber said that he was ‘fatigued’ and expressed a desire to ‘step away’ from social media.

Share this story

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Video game streamer Dr. DisRespect presents on stage during round three of the 2022 NFL Draft on April 28th, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Photo by Kevin Sabitus / Getty Images

Midnight Society, the game studio co-founded by Dr Disrespect, has terminated its relationship with the streamer. In a post on X, the studio wrote, “On Friday evening, we became aware of an allegation against one of our co-founder’s Guy Beahm aka Dr Disrespect.”

That is the day and time that former Twitch employee Cody Conners posted a tweet about the alleged reason for Beahm’s permanent ban, saying it was for “sexting a minor in the then existing Twitch whispers product.” Robert Bowling, a former Infinity Ward developer and fellow Midnight Society co-founder, posted shortly after, saying, “I’m now aware and I’m dealing with it... I landed from Stockholm, reconnected, saw the tweet and immediately began an investigation to learn everything I need to know so I can ensure a full follow through.”

On Sunday, The Verge reported a second Twitch employee who worked on the platform’s trust and safety team at the time of the incident had come forward to corroborate Conner’s post.

“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 the post from Midnight Society. “For this reason, we are terminating our relationship with Guy Beahm immediately.”

The announcement came barely an hour after Beahm ended his first stream since the allegations surfaced. In the stream, Beahm said that he was “fatigued” and was considering “removing himself from the scene.” He suggested that he could leave Midnight Society as part of that process. “Maybe I step away from there, too,” he said.

In 2020, Beahm was banned from Twitch at the height of his popularity and shortly after signing a two-year exclusivity contract with the platform. Neither Twitch nor Beahm would state the reason why, leading to four years of mystery and speculation. Beahm denied the allegations in posts to X, saying, “I didn’t do anything wrong, all this has been probed and settled, nothing illegal, no wrongdoing was found, and I was paid.”

In 2021, Beahm co-founded Midnight Society with Bowling and Quinn DelHoyo, who worked on the Halo and Gears of War series. In 2022, Midnight Society announced Deadrop, an extraction shooter that, at one time, sold NFTs as a part of its monetization strategy.

In its post announcing its termination of Beahm, Midnight Society wrote, “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.”

Update, June 24th: Added post from Robert Bowling and clarified Midnight Society’s post.