Dr Disrespect Knowingly Sent Explicit Messages to a Minor, Former Twitch Employee Says
Banned from the platform in 2020 over inappropriate texts to an underage girl, the streamer continues to insist he did nothing wrong
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But after independently reviewing internal Twitch communications and interviewing a source with knowledge of the situation, Rolling Stone has learned that Beahm was kicked off the platform in 2020 for allegedly sexting a minor through a since-discontinued messaging feature called Whispers, even after learning she was underage. He also allegedly inquired about her plans to attend TwitchCon, the company’s semi-annual gaming convention.
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A former Twitch trust and safety employee, who worked for the platform at the time Beahm was banned and has direct knowledge of the matter, confirmed to Rolling Stone that Beahm continued to send sexually graphic messages to a minor he knew to be underage. This former employee, who requested anonymity to avoid jeopardizing their career, also said that crucial elements of Beahm’s latest defensive tweet are inaccurate.
“I recall that Dr Disrespect was made aware by the individual that they were underage during the conversation, after which he indicated that this was no problem and continued on,” the former employee says. “There was no confusion. Messages sent after this was acknowledged were no less graphic and in sexually explicit nature than before, and I think more than the categorization of ‘leaning too much in the direction of being inappropriate’ might indicate.”
The ex-Twitch employee has also provided Rolling Stone a more detailed account of internal conversations at Twitch following the report of Beahm’s messages and his subsequent ban. They say the details of Beahm’s case are coming out because of Conners’ explosive tweet last week. “Cody definitely got the ball rolling. Me and many of my former colleagues are only comfortable speaking up now because of it. Our priority is always to the safety of the [alleged] victim and to keep their identity secret,” they said.
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YouTube’s former global head of gaming partnerships at Google, Ryan Wyatt, confirmed to Rolling Stone that Beahm was not offered a contract due to chatter about the circumstances of his Twitch ban. He says that a Twitch employee and journalists investigating the incident told YouTube employees that it involved inappropriate messages to a minor.
“The unfortunate part of all of it was there were so many rumors circulating in the industry, one that a minor was involved,” he says. “But no one produced first-hand knowledge or evidence, and because of those rumors, there was no reason to entertain doing any deal with [Beahm], and no evidence produced means you can’t act on a [terms of service] violation. The whole situation got even more confusing when Twitch settled and effectively said, ‘no wrongdoing’ which made everyone in the industry dismiss the rumors, but even still, there was never a reason to do a deal with him after that ban.”