Dr Disrespect Breaks His Silence On Twitch Ban
Dr Disrespect recently received what appears to be a permanent ban from Twitch. That in itself is a major story. What's become become even more intriguing, though, is the mystery around why the ban happened in the first place. Industry expert Rod Breslau claimed to know the reason but refused to tell, saying that it was an important and sensitive topic and he wasn't comfortable sharing the information. And last Friday, Dr Disrespect himself took to Twitter to offer his own statement on the ban. It turns out he didn't have much to say, either.
"Twitch has not notified me on the specific reason behind their decision," he said, going on to thank his fans without addressing possible reasons for the sudden ouster.
Dr Disrespect's post was even shorter than Twitch's non-statement on the issue, which read, "As is our process, we take appropriate action when we have evidence that a streamer has acted in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. These apply to all streamers regardless of status or prominence in the community." While the statement seemed to confirm that Twitch felt justified in handing down the ban, neither the company nor the Doc himself have come forward with any information about exactly the streamer could've done to earn it.
Forbes contributor Erik Kain isn't buying that Doc doesn't know why he got the boot. Kain also points out the possibility that the streamer does know the reason but didn't hear it from Twitch. That would make the tweet technically true, if misleading. Something else that Breslau said seems to make that particular explanation plausible.
"[F]ood for thought:" Breslau posted in a retweet of Dr Disrespect's announcement, "Twitch does not issue specific reasons to streamers for permanent bans." This would mean that, even if Doc knew exactly why he'd been banned, Twitch itself wouldn't be the one to tell him. It didn't take long for people to pile on Breslau's tweet asking that he share what he knows, with some accusing him of milking the issue for attention. So far, the consultant has kept his secrets.
Indeed, it would be extremely strange for any streamer, let alone a big star like Dr Disrespect, to be permanently banned without at least suspecting the reason why. It would be equally strange for a consultant like Rod Breslau to know the actual story behind Dr Disrespect being kicked off Twitch while the streamer himself doesn't.
The Doc is no stranger to controversy. He's built his entire persona around being a villain whom people love to hate. This is also far from the first time he's landed in hot water. Heck, it's not even the first time he's been suspended from Twitch; he previously got a two week suspension for streaming from inside bathrooms at an E3 conference. However, something seems different now, if only because of the mystery surrounding the ban.
Worth considering, though, is the fact that Dr Disrespect was only banned as of last Friday, June 26. While the streaming community has been stewing on it the whole weekend, in reality it's only been a couple of days since Twitch handed down that decision. It's entirely possible that we'll soon hear what happened, and the Twitch superstar is just looking for the right way and time to tell his fans what's going on. It could also be that this won't end up being the permanent ban that people suspect it is. After all, there was no time frame put on the ban after the E3 incident, but two short weeks later, he was back in the saddle.
There's a lot of fear, uncertainty, and doubt surrounding this issue right now, not to mention plenty of rumors. As Kain says in an edit to his Forbes article, "It's hard not to have your mind drift to very bad things when we just don't know, well, anything and everyone who does know something won't comment publicly about it because it's so 'sensitive.'"
And that's something to keep at the forefront of your mind as all of this unfolds. There's really not a whole left to say on the matter until Twitch comes forward with an explanation or Dr Disrespect suddenly offers one himself. If that happens, we'll be sure to tell you.