Streamer Dr Disrespect axed by his gaming company

The gaming streamer Herschel "Guy" Beahm, known online as Dr Disrespect, has had his role at his gaming company "immediately terminated" after it said it "became aware of an allegation" against him.

The decision by Midnight Society - which Beahm co-founded - comes four years after he was abruptly kicked off streaming platform Twitch, where he had a huge following.

The reason for his removal then was never made clear - with the Amazon-owned platform only saying it acted whenever users broke the rules.

In a social media post Beahm has denied any wrongdoing, but admitted sending messages to "an individual minor" in 2017.

"Were there real intentions behind these messages, the answer is absolutely not," he wrote in a post on X, calling them "casual, mutual conversations that sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate".

"Nothing illegal happened, no pictures were shared, no crimes were committed, I never even met the individual," he said.

"Let me be clear, it was not a criminal case against me and no criminal charges have ever been brought against me.”

He did though apologise to his "community and colleagues" for his actions.

"That's on me as an adult, a husband and a father... it should have never happened", he wrote.

Abrupt exit

Beahm's departure from Twitch made headlines because it was so abrupt - and largely unexplained.

In 2020, the platform told the BBC: "We take appropriate action when we have evidence that a streamer has acted in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service".

Two years later, after the threat of legal action by Beahm, he and Twitch agreed to a settlement, where neither party admitted any wrongdoing.

He has been streaming on YouTube since his Twitch ban, and has over 4.7 million subscribers.

On Monday, Midnight Society posted on X (formerly Twitter): "On Friday evening we became aware of an allegation against one of our co-founder’s [sic] Guy Beahm aka Dr Disrespect."

It added: "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."

The studio did not go into any more detail about what the allegation was.

Tech news outlet The Verge has reported that two former Twitch employees alleged inappropriate conduct from Mr Beahm.

BBC News has contacted Midnight Society, Twitch and YouTube for comment.

The Dr Disrespect character has been popular with fans for his frenetic style of play and aggressive - at times rude - commentary.

He is cutting and boastful toward rivals and also prone to a snipe at his fans too, who enjoy the chance to get roasted by him live.

In a livestream on Monday just before the announcement from Midnight Society, Mr Beahm suggested that he would take an extended break.

He spoke of being fatigued and "burnt out", and pondered if he should "step away" from his business ventures.

He did not directly address the allegations, but said it might be time to try something new.