It’s sort of an unwritten fact now that where Guy “Dr. Disrespect” Beahm IV goes, controversies follow. The 38-year-old American professional streamer is quite frequently found in the centre of online controversies, which are fueled further by his on-stream character – a funny yet toxic stereotype gamer.
A recent Kotaku report sheds light on how Dr. Disrespect has sparked a controversy yet again, and this time it’s quite a major one. On a recent stream of him on Twitch, Dr. Disrespect had pulled up two coronavirus related controversies and expressed his opinions on them. While it’s unclear if he was serious regarding his statements due to him being in his on-stream character the entire time, there’s still a possibility that such bold and controversial statements might affect many of his 4 million followers who were present during the stream at that time.
Initially, he read on-stream an article which Elon Musk had previously retweeted. A thorough read on the article from the hill reveals some shocking insights.
The article points out the concept of “herd immunity” and how it can be achieved and that it was time for America to open up workplaces and small businesses with precautionary measures. It also explains a Stanford University study which puts a number to the mortality rate of the virus much lower than is widely believed. However, the study came under fire by scientists for faulty methods involved in it.
While Elon Musk didn’t make a strong statement regarding the article, Dr. Disrespect sure did. After going through the article he “agreed” on it and came to the conclusion that “facts matter.” This can certainly be misleading for his viewers, because herd immunity is not a very viable concept currently for COVID-19. Generally, without proper vaccination there’s a chance of reinfection of the disease which can even be worse for the countries.
This wasn’t the end of it, as he then pulled up a viral video by Dr. Thomas Cowan who claimed that 5G causes COVID-19. Despite how baseless this claim sounds, this rumour has actually turned mainstream even after being debunked. While Dr. Disrespect didn’t completely agree on it, he mentioned that it “gets me upset.”
It’s not wrong for him to want people to think rationally and not blindly follow orders. But with such a huge follower count, it’s upon him to not mislead his viewers into believing something that is entirely false. Making highly controversial statements aren’t rare for Dr. Disrespect, but when the world is facing a pandemic which has a confirmed death toll of over 227,000 people, rumours and conspiracy theories certainly aren’t gonna help.
