Summary

• Guy 'Dr DisRespect' Beahm initially denied, and then admitted, sexting an underaged girl
• Many gaming influencers who make content claiming LGBT people are groomers have deflected in the wake of Beahm's confession
• It feels like a lot of people wanted Beahm to get away with it because they agree with his politics or persona

It has been a whirlwind few days for Guy 'Dr DisRespect' Beahm, so let's start out with the facts. In 2020, Beahm was one of the most popular and profitable streamers on Twitch, but was suddenly banned with no reason given. Everyone was clueless as to why, with minimal rumours and no leaks about the situation. In the years since, Beahm has maintained his popularity while streaming elsewhere. But this week, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:former Tw🐼itch employee Cody Conners tweete꧑d "he got banned because got caught sexting a minor in the then existing Twitc🐷h whispers product", with Beahm being 𒐪the "he", and after that, everything began to unravel.

Conners also accused Beahm of arranging to meet up with this underaged girl at TwitchCon, both of which Beahm denied in fairly weak terms, stating "no wrongdoing was acknowledged" when he was let go by Twitch. A couple of other former Twitch employees corroborated this story, both in tweets and in statements to the press, before 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Beahm adꦜmitted it three days after denying it. His initial statement confirmed that he exchanged inappropriate messages with a "minor",✅ which he updated to "individual", and then updated again to "individual minor".

Gaming Influencers Have Been Deflecting Since Dr DisRespect's Statement

There is little proof more convincing than the person being accused saying 'yes I did those things', but it's also extremely rare in these situations and thus the usual playbook has been torn up. Several right-wing YouTubers, who frequently make videos about trans people being groomers and about how woke ideology is the biggest threat to your children, have been flummoxed by this. The Quartering, one of the best known of this ilk of influencer, initially replied "firm handshakes" to Beahm's admission of guilt, before backtracking after his own fans accused him of supporting a groomer. Which he definitionally was.

Melonie Mac, who makes right-wing gaming content while pontificating about how Jesus will save us from the locusts of the LGBT movement, shifted the blame onto other women who dress provocatively on Twitch and claimed she needed "more context" before deciding if sexting a minor was just "locker room jokes". Vara Dark, who makes similar 'wokists destroyed!' content to The Quartering, said Beahm's admission of guilt "could mean something as simple as a joke with a sexual tone" and blamed Twitch employees for being "desperate" to cancel him and accused journalists of sitting on the story for profit.

Aside from the fact that journalists make money from printing stories, not not printing them, you can read my colleague Ben Sledge's excellent breakdown of why journalists who may �🐭�have heard rumours were only able to ethically report on the story now.

Then there was Nickmercs, another highly successful streamer and long-time friend and colleague of Beahm. Nickmercs has always catered to the broski side of gaming, but recently has spiralled hard into anti-trans rhetoric, which TimTheTatMan, another major streamer and also long-time friend and colleague of Beahm, has defended. Nickmercs has been beating the same tired 'trans people are groomers' drum feverishly, but when his friend was outed as an actual groomer, his response was "what can you do?". TimTheTatMan's statement was a little firmer, saying "I cannot support that," but also used the word "if" twice when referring to Beahm's actions despite his admission, and added the words "teeter on" in front of inappropriate, to diminish the act.

Dr DisRespect's Case Is As Clear Cut As It Gets

It feels callous to talk about it in this way when there's a real victim at the centre, but this response highlights the ineptitude of Beahm's reaction to all of this. From the clownish nature of him seemingly finding out the studio he co-fo๊unded (Midnight Studio) dropped hꦅim while he was streaming 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Elden Ring and listening to the funerary orchestra as his career imploded, to th𓂃e weak "no wrongdoing" line, to editing his statement once to remove the word "minor" then again to sheepishly add it back in, ꦺthis has been a disaster of public relations.

It's very clear that a lot of high profile people would have looked the other way with a little bit more plausible deniability. The Quartering claims his "firm handshakes" response was to the second statement, which did not include the word 'minor', but the entire story was about sexting an underaged girl. The context told you who the "individual" was. TimTheTatMan's regurgitation of the statement did a better job of spinning the story than Beahm did. Even with him admitting it outright, many who align with Beahm's anti-woke, 'keep politics out of gaming' viewpoints are immediately deflecting the blame elsewhere.

This saga makes it painfully obvious how easy it is to grift your way out of extremely serious accusations. Beahm may be stepping on rakes at every turn, but there is a whole pack of rake-gatherers scurrying around trying to clear a path for him. If a man can come out and admit 'I shared sexually explicit messages with a minor' when he was 35 years old and married with a kid, and still not be denounced by his peers, what does that say for their morals?

It should be noted that Beahm's subreddit has been staunchly against him ever since his statement, as well as displaying far more critical thinking skills even in the few days before after Beahm's carefully phrased "no wrongdoing" rebuttal. While there are some parody accounts and hardcore defenders, the sub has mainly come together to stand firm in their condemnation of him. Those hoping to bask in what remains of his spotlight have taken a less hardline stance on texting underaged girls with inappropriate messages.

Vara Dark called it a "sad end". That sheds a lot of light on the perspective of the grifter class. Why is it disgusting and morally bankrupt and brainwashing for a Pride flag to be painted on the road, but 'sad' that a grown man is sending explicit messages to a girl half his age? The gaming community has said in one voice that Dr DisRespect is no longer welcome. It's a shame gaming influencers don't feel as strongly about it.