Bayonetta 3: the original voice of Bayonetta calls for a boycott of the game, the controversy swells

While Nintendo and PlatinumGames are actively preparing the release of Bayonetta 3 for October 26, 2022, a controversy around the game is swelling on social networks. The reason ? A call (on video) for a boycott of the game from Hellena Taylor, the actress who lent her voice to Bayonetta in the first two episodes before being dismissed by the production. If his absence had been announced a few months earlier, the reasons were so far rather vague. On the side of PlatinumGames, we mentioned circumstances that did not allow to work with the actress. But she decided to break the silence and proclaim her truth loud and clear. In a video posted a few hours ago on her social networks (Twitter, Instagram), she explains that she refused the role because of the fee she was offered, namely the sum of 4 dollars for the entire dubbing for the game. A sum considered ridiculous given his work, his talent and his dedication to the license. 

Friends, Worldlings, Bayonutters. Hear ye!#PlatinumGames #Nintendo #Bayonetta #Bayonetta3 #Bayonutters #Boycott #NintendoEurope #NintendoAmerica #NintendoJapan pic.twitter.com/h9lwiX2bBt

— Hellena Taylor (@hellenataylor) 15 octobre 2022

 

The Bayonetta franchise grossed around $450 million and that's not including all the merchandise. As an actor, I trained for a total of seven and a half years (including three years at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts with vocal coach Barbara Berkery, and four and a half years with the legendary Larry Moss in Los Angeles , note). Did they think it was worth it? How much did they offer me? The overall offer to double the entire game – as a buyout, lump sum – was $4. It's an insult to me, the time I've taken to work on my talent and everything I've given to this game and the fans. I ask fans to boycott this game and spend the money you would have spent on this game, donate it to charity. I never asked for the end of the world. I wasn't asking for too much either. I just asked for a decent and dignified salary. What they did was legal, but it was immoral.

 

A video that quickly knocked PlatinumGames leaders off the hook, like a certain Hideki Kamiya, the President of the Studio, who completely denies these allegations. However, hours after he tweeted that it was all fake, he restricted access to his Twitter account and some of his posts. Should we see an admission of weakness on his part? In any case, with more than 7,7 million views on Twitter, the video caused a huge reaction from Internet users, but also professionals in the field, such as a certain Bryan Dechart, who recently dubbed and played the character of Connor in Detroit Become Human. The latter supported Hellena Taylor, explaining that these kinds of events also took place against her. Bryan Dechart was indeed rejected for a role in an AAA game because the fee he was asking for was deemed too high for the production, which preferred to cast a less expensive actor. In recent years, voices have been rumbling around the profession of dubbing actor, whose salaries are reduced each year more, favoring new recruits, less expensive and undoubtedly more malleable.

For those curious, yes, this has happened to me

I booked the lead character of a AAA game by a studio that has made MANY games. They refused to register the project w/@sagaftra & offered to pay k for the entire game. I passed, but someone else did it & no ground was gained…

— Bryan Dechart (@BryanDechart) October 15, 2022