Dr. Disrespect to Twitch “We’re going to sue the fuck out of them!”

On Jun. 26th, 2020, the streamer known as Dr. Disrespect received a permanent ban from Twitch. At the time, customary for Twitch’s previous bans on other streamers, no reason was made public besides that the streamer had violated Twitch’s terms of service (TOS). This had come as a surprise as Dr. Disrespect had just signed a lucrative multi-year deal with the popular content streaming service.

Speculation and rumors soon began to sweep around the streaming community and on Twitter as to what exactly happened. The first rumor was that Dr. Disrespect had another affair with another streamer, and Twitch had gotten word of it ending his contract. While there isn’t anything in Twitch’s TOS about relationships with other streamers. This turned the speculation that Dr. D may have been reported for sexual harassment behind the scenes from another streamer. In the streaming community, something like this wouldn’t stay quiet for long. After time had passed, the fact that still no one knew why, and there was zero evidence that Disrespect had done anything wrong was gaining attention.

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Everything had remained quiet from the Doc’s camp. The Champions Club, the name for his fanbase, had no idea where the Doc would land and begin streaming again. At this time, the streaming world was still reeling from the announcement only three days prior, on Jun. 23rd, 2020, that Mixer was closing down. While this had impacted a number of streamers that had moved to the new platform. What remained in large question was the fates of Ninja and Shroud. Both had taken deals on Mixer, reportedly worth millions. This included a buyout clause should the site close shop, making both multi-millionaires overnight.

With no word coming anywhere that Dr. Disrespect had violated TOS, with fans and journalists alike searching for any shred of evidence. Thoughts soon began to turn that Twitch had cut Doc loose to put money away to pay for Shroud and Ninja to return to the platform. These rumors were further prorogated by Disrespect several times on stream. Specifically, using a viewers work story about being replaced similar to the rumors going on around about his ban from Twitch.

This led to another rumor that Doc’s team had used a fake threat that he was offered a large deal to move to Mixer. The idea was since Mixer and its parent company Microsoft were in the process of buying up talent, that Doc’s team told Twitch they had an offer on the table to increase Twitch’s offer. So when Mixer announced its closing, speculation began that Twitch assumed that the Mixer deal was a fake and removed Doc.

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Yet despite all the rumors, no solid information had come out. The Doc’s ban remained a mystery. That was until Aug. 23rd, after a short dialog Dr. Disrespect wrapped things up with an astonishing revelation. He knows why Twitch banned him. He has apparently known for months now. Following with having that information the Doc said this “We’re going to sue the fuck out of them!”

The questions are now reversed, leaving the streaming community wondering what Twitch had done wrong. What does this mean for Doc? What would he be suing for and what would he be entitled to? The most likely is he would sue for breach of contract. Since Twitch claimed Doc violated TOS, they would have to prove in court that he has. Since no information has ever surfaced that Doc had violated TOS, it would mean he would be entitled to a potential number of financial awards.

Depending on the wording of his contract and the impact his banning causes him financially, this is what he may be entitled to. First would be the average amount he would make in subscriptions from the date of banning to the end date of his contract. Ad revenue for that period of time as well would be up for grabs. A case could be made that his average monthly donations were directly impacted because of Twitch, leaving them on the hook to pay for that as well. Included in that would be any guaranteed money Twitch offered him to stay on the platform. Though not likely, Doc’s team could go for damage to Doc’s reputation as a result of rumors that he had violated TOS. If it’s proven that Disrespect had not violated TOS, while proving that Doc took a financial loss, he could be awarded damages.

The question is why would Twitch take the banning route, then, to pay Dr. D off to remove him from the platform? One could be he didn’t have a buyout clause in his contract. Even if they did, if it wasn’t worded that a buy out could result in de-platforming, they wouldn’t be able to remove the Doc from Twitch. In fact, the only known way to lose a contract, be un-partnered and de-platformed with no option to return is to be banned. So for Twitch, the only option they had at their disposal was to ban Doc.

So was this an act of revenge by Twitch/Amazon on the Doc for pulling a fast one during negotiations? Was Twitch just stock piling the war chest to pay for Shroud and Ninja’s return? During this time, both Shroud and Ninja have returned to Twitch, but speculation put their return almost assured. The streaming community waits with bated breath for the outcome and perhaps a few answers.

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