No one is as charismatic, as entertaining, and as braggadocious as Dr Disrespect. A unique character, Dr Disrespect is the gamer alter-ego of Herschel “Guy” Beahm IV. He rose to prominence on Twitch.tv playing shooter games such as Call of Duty (CoD), PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and H1Z1. However, for undisclosed reasons, Twitch banned his channel, which led to him setting up camp on Youtube.
Champions Club,
Twitch has not notified me on the specific reason behind their decision… Firm handshakes to all for the support during this difficult time.
-Dr Disrespect
— Dr Disrespect (@DrDisrespect) June 28, 2020
Still, even without his Twitch channel, Dr Disrespect remains to be one of the biggest streamers in the world. His fanbase easily transfers to wherever he decides to stream, with his first broadcast on Youtube attracting an audience of half a million people. The video of the broadcast has over 2.7 million views.
Hence, it's no wonder that Dr Disrespect remains one of the most recognizable figures in the gaming industry. It's also not surprising that his renown has earned him tremendous wealth over the years. Apart from the thousands of dollars he earns from fan donations and ad revenues, The Doctor's notoriety also attracts brands such as Gillette, Turtlebeach, Razer, and G Fuel, bringing in sponsorship money from his partnerships.
Dr Disrespect's net worth in 2020: $6 million
While Doc is most well-known for his time streaming on Twitch, Beahm finds his roots on Youtube. His first videos date back to 2010, and he sometimes would appear in videos on Machinima, playing CoD: Modern Warfare 2. After a short stint on Youtube, he went inactive in 2011 as he became the community manager for Sledgehammer Games, a subsidiary of Activision, the publishers of CoD. A few years later, he started working on Twitch, becoming one of its first streamers. In 2015, he quit his job to commit to full-time streaming.
Over the years, Dr Disrespect developed various income streams. His viewers on Twitch could either subscribe to his channel for a monthly fee or send him tips directly, ranging from as small as $5 to as much as thousands. On top of his fans' contributions, The Doc also receives compensation from sponsors and brand partnerships. Now on Youtube, Dr Disrespect most likely also earns from ad revenue. From all of these sources, Nailbuzz puts Dr Disrespect's net worth at $6 million.
“A WWE character in the competitive gaming world”
Dr Disrespect attracts a lot of viewers, mostly due to the satirical nature of his character. The Doc is proud to the point of arrogance, irreverent except for himself and his followers; he is erratic and unpredictable. His overflowing charisma, skilled gunplay, and the high production value of his content make him one of the most entertaining streamers on the planet. Apart from his consistently great shooting skills, The Doc often showboats with awesome skill shots, which do wonders for his viewership numbers.
At his peak – right before Twitch banned his account, he had over 4 million followers. His return to Youtube wasn't so bad either – while not having as many followers as he had on Twitch, The Doc still has an impressive 3 million subscriber count on the platform. His successful transition from Twitch to Youtube led Sportskeeda to call him “The streamer who is too big to fail.”
In a 2017 interview with ESPN, Beahm said about his alter-ego:
“I created a character who plays multiplayer video games, and he's considered the most dominating gaming specimen.”
In the same interview, ESPN described his colorful creation “A WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) character in the competitive gaming world,” referencing the over-the-top characters in the scripted wrestling show with pre-determined results and storylines. Beahm treats Dr Disrespect as a performance art, believing that the gaming world could use more characters like him. He was quoted saying:
“I think interactions between ‘strong personalities’ would allow for a better narrative across the platform, and would really draw in people who are experiencing digital entertainment outside of hardcore gaming culture.”
Beyond the Fourth Wall
Beahm's character unsurprisingly ruffle a lot of feathers. As a result, Dr Disrespect is no stranger to controversies.
The streamer would often stay in character even outside of his livestreams, including public appearances and interaction with fans. Perhaps the most infamous incident was his E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) 2019 livestream. While inside the convention center, he and his cameraman went into the men's restroom, continuing their filming. He and his cameraman would exit and re-enter the restroom twice.
The footage violated Twitch's privacy rules and privacy laws in the California Penal Code. The incident led to a suspension of the Dr Disrespect Twitch channel, which would then be reinstated mere two weeks later.
On-stream, Dr Disrespect's reckless and insolent character would sometimes lead to him making controversial statements.
In 2018, he was called out by musician and actor Jimmy Wong on a (now-deleted) tweet for “acting racist” on his stream as he made hyperbolic impressions of the Chinese, an accusation The Doctor has called “laughable.” During the coronavirus pandemic, Kotaku criticized Dr Disrespect for “recklessly” spreading misinformation, when he shared coronavirus-related media that have been marked as untruthful and misleading.
The distinction between the views of Dr Disrespect, the character, and the personal views of Guy Beahm is not clear-cut. While Beahm is playing a character when he gets embroiled in controversy, it does not necessarily clean his hands from the ramifications of his actions.
Guy Beahm, family man
While Dr Disrespect is on the pinnacle of the gaming world (as the character would always exclaim, “I'm on top of the mountain, and I'm only halfway up!), Guy Beahm tries not to get it over his head. A 2017 interview with the Rolling Stones had him saying:
“I don’t really consider myself famous in any fashion. To me, I’m just goofing off on camera for six to eight hours a day.”
Beahm also recognizes the importance of maintaining a healthy balance between his life on and off the camera. Back in 2017, Beahm took time off Twitch, citing marital issues. The ordeal made him realize how important his family was to him.
Upon returning to Twitch, Beahm added his wife to his skits, dubbing her “Mrs Assassin”. He hoped that their new working relationship as co-stars could help heal their wounds, and it seems to be working.
The couple has a daughter, who would also sometimes appear on stream, dubbed “Baby Disrespect.” At the end of the day, what keeps Beahm going is the family that supports him behind the scenes.
“When I’m done (for the day), I’m downstairs with my daughter and beautiful wife, disconnected from the online world.”
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