Bayonetta voice actor seeks to "defend myself and my reputation" in update to claims of lacklustre pay
Following reporting that claimed she was offered more than originally implied, an elaboration has gone live on Twitter.
Former Bayonetta voice actor Hellena Taylor has elaborated on her original series of videos and claims regarding her absence from Bayonetta 3’s lead VO role, which appears to confirm findings made by Jason Schrier at Bloomberg last week. This includes confirmation that she was indeed offered $15,000 initially, rather than the originally implied $4,000 figure.
This update comes from a Twitter thread posted to the actor’s Twitter, in which she states that she “feels the need to defend myself and my reputation”. She states that the claim she was offered $4,000 for five sessions were “total fabrications”, as well as continues to encourage supporters to boycott Bayonetta 3 as it nears its October 28 release date.
This statement, seemingly trying to refute claims made by Bloomberg, seems if nothing else to corroborate the reporting. One point in the piece, which claims that she asked for a six figure payout for work on the game, seems to be faux-disputed by Talyor, who states that she had been informed of ridiculous fictions, such as I asked for 250,000 dollars”, a figure not reported on by Bloomberg.
This update makes what for many seemed a case of voice actors being undervalued, a problem that is indeed legitimate in spite of the validity of Taylor’s own claims, substantially trickier. For some, the update which introduces new information originally absent from the videos that kicked off the topic, a figure that had to be discovered by journalists, damages her claims. For others, the desire to be paid fairly for important work on a popular franchise outweighs the flaws.
Hellena Taylor concludes her thread with what seemingly is a dig towards Jason Schrier’s reporting, writing: “There are people who are attempting to throw shade and discredit what I say. The industry is powerful, they have powerful journalists too.” Whether or not her call for boycott will retain momentum following this development remains to be seen, as the world approaches its release.
For more Bayonetta 3 content, check out our preview of the game: "Witches be trippin’: A few hours in, Bayonetta 3 looks like a Nintendo Switch all-timer".