Speculation has started spreading that Dr Disrespect, who was banned from Twitch in mysterious circumstances and moved to YouTube, could be moving to join Kick.
Dr Disrespect moved to YouTube after his exit from Twitch, but unlike many of his contemporaries, he wasn’t lured away by a big contract. Twitch had inexplicably banned the Doc, and even years on, the exact reason for his ban is shrouded in mystery.
He has remained on YouTube ever since, although his relationship with the platform hasn’t been totally smooth either, having called them out on numerous occasions, usually for what he believes is a lack of support.
Couple this with Kick’s new-found popularity, and confirmation they have signed a “superstar,” there is now speculation that said superstar is Dr Disrespect.
Dr Disrespect moving to Kick?
Speculation first started on March 27, when Adin Ross, who has been a very vocal advocate for Kick, said another “superstar” was joining. It was assumed that it was someone from Twitch, as he added “rest in piss Twitch,” – but what if it wasn’t a Twitch streamer at all?
On his stream the same day, Dr Disrespect said that a “big announcement” – that he was “building a brand-new arena.”
“It’s big. It’s big-time. We’re building it out. I just got the schematics in. I think we’re going to be moving forward.”
Topic starts at 16:40
“We’re going bigger. More state-of-the-art, more futuristic,” the Doc continued. “But we’ve had a lot of good memories right here.”
Clearly, he was trying not to give too much away, but Dr Disrespect’s ‘arena’ refers to his streaming domain, and has had a number of iterations over the years.
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However, xQc was announced as Kick’s newest star in June, and so perhaps this was what Adin was referring to after all.
Dr Disrespect names his price to join Kick
After this xQc deal, speculation ramped up again. Other streamers have also signed deals, such as Destiny, a fellow YouTube streamer just like Doc.
On June 22, Dr Disresepect named his price to move to Kick, simply stating “50 million is my number.”
50 million is my number… pic.twitter.com/CiLLKYnXUc
— Dr Disrespect (@DrDisrespect) June 22, 2023
xQc’s deal was worth $70 million, although achievable incentives are believed to take that figure up to as much as $100 million. That means Doc is making himself a considerably cheaper option for Kick, who appear to be handing out a lot of cash to encourage the biggest names to join them.
Kick CEO confirms discussions with Dr Disrespect
After this public message from Doc, Kick’s CEO Eddie Craven spoke candidly about discussions going on behind the scene with the streamer’s team.
“Dr Disrespect I’ve personally been a fan of for a long time, just as I’ve been a massive fan of a lot of streamers,” he said. “Having the chance to work alongside these guys is so f**king cool. And Doc is one of them.
“Doc is someone that we would love to work with. We are talking with his team. We’re talking with everyone! Well, not everyone, but most people have open communication lines with us. We want to work with everyone. We want to make things happen, we want to bring people over.”
For now, there is nothing concrete to suggest Dr Disrespect is leaving YouTube, but clearly, it’s certainly a possibility both he and Kick are considering. Whether YouTube fights to keep his services, remains to be seen.