Twitch Streamer DrDisRespect Announces Leave Of Absence Citing Marriage Problems

           A few days ago, Guy “DrDisRespect” Beahm was on much of the gaming community’s radar as one of the most prolific Twitch streamers around, but yesterday marked a descent from that highest high into an all-time low. DrDisRespect recently went live his own Twitch channel to announce that he would be taking a sudden leave of absence from Twitter. The reason, Beahm claimed was guilt over cheating on his wife.

           DrDisRespect is a character created by Guy Beahm. Beahm is a former level designer for multiplayer in the Call of Duty franchise, but he stepped back from game development to move into full-time streaming as the DrDisRespect character. Under the DrDisRespect brand, Beahm has become a notable presence in several video game streaming communities including H1Z1 and PLAYERUNKNOWN’s Battlegrounds at various points of his career. The DrDisRespect character is known for its trademark macho bravado, with Beahm unabashedly taunting his opponents and throwing out catchphrases in a style similar to a professional wrestling promo, all while wearing a mullet and sunglasses to complete the look. Through his rise to prominence, DrDisRespect has cultivated an audience of over 1.4 million followers on Twitch with sponsors from the likes of Razer, Turtle Beach, GFUEL, ASUS Republic of Gamers, and Need For Seat.

           It was on the evening of December 14, 2017 that Beahm went live on the DrDisRespect Twitch Channel, looking clearly emotionally distressed and devoid of any of the gear and machismo typically associated with his character. During the short stream which can be seen below starting around the 1:50 mark, Beahm admitted to cheating on his wife, his guilt over the matter, and his intention to take time off from streaming to focus on his family, which includes a single daughter. After apologizing to his supporters, followers, sponsors, and friends, Beahm then went offline.

           There have been several times over the past year in which the DrDisRespect character has been a matter of interest in gaming news. Though PLAYERUNKNOWN’s Battlegrounds has been the game of choice on DrDisRespect’s streams, the Doc was banned for a short while for team killing in the game, which led to an online dispute with the creator of the game, Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene. DrDisRespect jokingly threatened physical harm on Greene, prompting a cold response from the creator, who had allegedly met with such physical threats before and took the issue seriously.

           Though the smoke cleared, the two amicably settled their argument, and DrDisRespect was allowed back into the game, it was brash moments like these that raised eyebrows in the gaming community when DrDisRespect was not only nominated for, but won the award for Trending Gamer at The Game Awards 2017. DrDisRespect won out over the likes of Andrea Rene of What’s Good Games, Clint Lexa of Halfcoordinated, Mike Grzesiek of Shroud, and Steven Spohn of Able Gamers.

           In the midst of this announcement, Beahm seems to have pulled his presence from upcoming events as well. Chinese company NetEase was set to sponsor a Rules of Surivival 'Hunt the Streamer' event with DrDisRespect in which viewers would be able to play battle royale games with nearly 30 notable streamers over the course of December 17. With Beahm having pulled out, another streamer will likely take his place in the list for the event.

           Many of Beahm’s fans considered the announcement to be heartfelt and genuine, with many offering luck and condolences in the DrDisRespect Twitch chat during and afterwards, but DrDisRespect has his share of detractors as well who believe this may have been expected and Beahm shouldn’t be let off the hook in the gaming community. It remains to be seen when and if Beahm will return to streaming anytime soon.