[UPDATE: A representative from GIPHY has explained that the site has not removed any Dr. Disrespect GIFs in response to the Twitch streamer's ban. The assumption is that the users who uploaded the GIFs have likely removed them.]
While the public at large still doesn't know why Dr. Disrespect was banned by Twitch, the developments around the story continue to appear. From sponsors cutting ties with the streamer to official statements from his wife, there is just as much going on in the periphery as there is at the source.
One of the latest changes related to Dr. Disrespect's ban is the removal of all Dr. Disrespect GIFs from popular animated image site GIPHY. On Monday, users began to notice that GIFs featuring Dr. Disrespect were no longer available on the site, and in some cases searches for his GIFs led to other images.
For example, going to the site and looking for Dr. Disrespect and any verb or adjective typically delivers a bunch of GIFs of Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies. There is one GIF in the search results of a man that looks like Dr. Disrespect with the big shades and bold mustache, but it's not the actual Twitch streamer.
Dr. Evil is a common search result when putting in “Dr.” or “doctor” in GIPHY so it isn't as though the site replaced the GIFs. They simply are no longer there.
Much like Dr. Disrespect's sponsors, GIPHY has not commented on why it removed any trace of Dr. Disrespect from its site. It's safe to assume that the removal is related to the Twitch ban, but it's strange to see something this unusual. Sponsors dropping streamers is common when they get accused (or caught) of doing something inappropriate, but the Internet at large doesn't try to erase that person's existence.
If nothing else, the fact that GIPHY removed all Dr. Disrespect GIFs only makes people's curiosity grow, as they try to look for clues as to why he was banned from Twitch. The assumption is that it is something very bad considering Twitch wouldn't give an official reason for the ban and Dr. Disrespect says he doesn't know why he was removed from the streaming platform. Some reporters claimed that the issue was serious and could not comment because of legalities.
It's unclear, then, if sponsors and other Internet sites are dropping Dr. Disrespect because they also know why he was banned, or simply because the impression is that this is something to gain distance from immediately. An early theory hypothesized that Dr. Disrespect was planning a move to a new streaming platform and had tried to recruit other Twitch personalities to follow.
Since Dr. Disrespect signed an exclusivity contract with Twitch, his moving platforms or recruiting streamers would be a breach of that agreement and subject to litigation. Without question that is bad, but it's not bad enough to remove every Dr. Disrespect GIF on a site.
Source: GIPHY