49ers Respond to Dr Disrespect Controversy

The San Francisco 49ers are cutting ties with Dr Disrespect over his admission to exchanging "inappropriate" Twitch messages with a minor. The NFL team is just the latest in a string of sponsors to drop the streamer after the circumstances leading up to his 2020 Twitch exit came to light.

On June 21, former Twitch Account Director of Strategic Partnerships Cody Conners alleged that Dr Disrespect was caught "sexting a minor" via Twitch Whispers, citing that as the reason for his permanent ban from the Amazon-owned platform. The streamer, whose real name is Herschel "Guy" Beahm IV, initially denied the accusation by asserting that he "didn't do anything wrong" during the events that prompted Twitch to end its relationship with him. But in an apparent reversal of that move, he then admitted to indeed exchanging "inappropriate" messages with a minor on June 25.

San Francisco 49ers Cut Ties With Dr Disrespect
Reflecting on that statement, the San Francisco 49ers have decided to cut ties with Dr Disrespect. "We take these developments seriously and will not be working with him going forward," a representative for the group told Digiday. Based on the NFL team's estimated valuation of $6 billion, the 49ers are by far the biggest sponsor to drop the streamer in response to this controversy yet. While it's unclear how much they contributed to his annual earnings, Dr Disrespect has frequently collaborated with the San Francisco 49ers, appearing in several marketing campaigns and even announcing their third round draft pick—Tyrion Davis-Price—ahead of the 2022 NFL season.

The lifelong 49ers fan's relationship with the team has now come to an unceremonious end, mirroring his 2020 Twitch exit. The NFL team is far from the only group that distanced itself from the 42-year-old content creator after he admitted to exchanging inappropriate private messages with a minor. Gaming accessory manufacturer Turtle Beach also cut ties with Dr Disrespect in response to the controversy, as did Midnight Society, a game developer that he co-founded in 2021.

We take these developments seriously and will not be working with [Dr Disrespect] going forward.

Some of his past sponsors that he's not actively collaborating with right now have also suggested they have no intention of partnering up with him again. Those include Mountain Dew, whose representative told Digiday that the company hasn't worked with the California-based content creator for a while now.

Before this string of sponsorship losses, Dr Disrespect announced he's taking a "vacation" from streaming. He elaborated on that decision in a June 25 statement that saw him proclaim he plans to return to making content before long.