Bayonetta 3 Boycott Called For by Bayonetta’s Voice Actor after ‘Immoral’ Pay Offer
Jennifer Hale #JenniferHale
Hellena Taylor, the voice actor for Bayonetta, is calling for a boycott of Bayonetta 3 after she received what she describes as an “immoral” offer for payment to voice the character in the new game. This past week Platinum Games announced that Taylor would not be returning to the role and that Jennifer Hale would be replacing her. Taylor is now speaking publicly about the situation, asking Bayonetta fans to show solidarity and donate their Bayonetta 3 funds to charity instead.
Bayonetta 3 game director Yusuke Miyata shocked franchise fans by confirming the longtime voice actor for Bayonetta wouldn’t be returning. Miyata described replacing Taylor as due to “various overlapping circumstances.” Taylor voiced Bayonetta in both of the franchise’s first two games, the Bayonetta: Bloody Fate anime film, and in both Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Her voice is iconic to the character, and her replacement was difficult to believe.
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Taylor has now explained why she isn’t voicing Bayonetta in Bayonetta 3 and “overlapping circumstances” is an inadequate description, to say the least. In a series of Twitter posts, Taylor tells fans that Platinum Games offered her just $4,000 to voice Bayonetta for the full game. She says that the Bayonetta franchise has brought in as much as $450 million, without including merchandise. “What they did was legal,” says Taylor, “but it was immoral.” Taylor says she only ever asked for a “living wage” for her work.
Due to Platinum’s decision, Taylor is asking fans of the Bayonetta franchise to boycott the release of Bayonetta 3. She asks fans to take the money that they’d spend on Bayonetta 3 and donate it to charity instead. Taylor frames this as a worker’s rights issue, saying she decided to speak out to, “stand up in solidarity with people all over the world who do not get paid properly for their talents.”
Taylor detailed the process she was put through, starting with Platinum re-auditioning her for the role of Bayonetta in Bayonetta 3. She says the audition went excellent, but that she then received a truly “insulting” offer afterward. She says she then contacted Bayonetta 3 executive director Hideki Kamiya asking he supported her return to the role and received a glowing, complimentary letter back saying Taylor was “instrumental” in crafting the role. It was after this that Platinum’s improved offer became just $4,000.
Bayonetta 3 releases October 28 on Switch.
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