Hideki Kamiya, Creator of Bayonetta, Has Deleted His Twitter Account After Voice Actress Backlash

Hideki Kamiya has deactivated his Twitter account following backlash from fans in regards to claims made by voice actress Hellena Taylor.

[ZwVw]

Couldn't keep up with all the user blocking, eh?

[SullysCigar]

So he should.

This voice actress episode is just the latest thing to draw attention to the fact this guy is, frankly, unpleasant.

EDIT: Never mind, he's already back. Just a publicity tantrum. Yawn.

[aaronaton]

I wish i could get paid $4k for 4 days work. How much did the JP voice actress earn?

[LoveSpuds]

Perhaps you should get experienced at the profession, deliver fantastic performances that play a major role in the popularity of a hugely successful franchise and then see how you feel about being offered what is in effect, peanuts in the context of Nintendo and the likely profit of this major release.

[CrimsonWing69]

Or Y’know, not make a big stink about it, decline the offer, and take your business elsewhere like a professional.

[DeathTouch]

@CrimsonWing69 No. A bad job situation should always be called out. There is ALWAYS someone willing to be underpayed and trampled, doesn’t mean it should be a staple. Today is this voice actress, tomorrow it’s you getting fired over a guy desperate to make a quick buck doing the same job as you for less than half the price.

[SinisterKieran]

Do you really think her performance is that good. I like bayonetta for many things but her voice isn’t one.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Capitalism dictates that if they are genuinely worth the value they demanded, but were denied, then fans will make Nintendo aware of their mistake by not buying the product.

GoW changed voice actors, and so did MGSV, and we all enjoyed the games the same.

It is tough for voice actors, because they get replaced ALL OF THE TIME. The one recent exception was the guy behind Bender on Futurama, but even he almost got shafted in the name of profits.

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

@Hwhite

"They didn't want Hellena Taylor because of prior grievances."

You have no evidence for that either and are just stating speculation as facts. You're acting like there aren't other possible explanations which there definitely are.

The theory that they lowballed her to get rid of her assumes that lowballing isn't something that they normally do. Sadly, I doubt that's the case. They could have lowballed her because she hadn't gotten much recent work and in their eyes lacked bargaining power for a decent wage as a result and shouldn't complain. Even someone giving a respectful offer would obviously still take demand into account (she's not Nolan North).

When she refused, they could have felt that if they're being forced to pay a higher wage, they may as well hire someone more experienced. Given that most people loved her performance, that's foolish, but people in management are not above incompetence (e.g. Babylon's Fall), and pettiness.

It's clear in both scenarios that they didn't properly value her contribution to the franchise. As I said, you're assuming they don't normal lowball, and also that there's a stipulation in previous contracts where they had to make her an offer for future roles, necessitating the lowballing to get rid of her. David Hayter never had that guarantee and Kojima tried to replace him for MGS3. lol

[ManMarmalade]

Ive been doing my craft for almost 30 years and dont make a cent from it because i choose not to. I feel like people complain about anything just to complain. I saw her video saying how she's been in X school for X amount of years and she deserves more. Just sounded entitled, honestly.

[gleepot]

Maybe the VAs should negotiate better or, you know, not take the gig? You don't take a job then publicly raise hell because of what you agreed to be paid.

[Imalwaysright]

Major role? Really?

[Imalwaysright]

@ DeathTouch

What "bad job situation"? She wasn't employed, she was offered a job and she rejected the offer. She is not entitled to a job, none of us are so quite frankly I don't understand what's so controversial about this.

[Smellsforfree]

@Hwhite - if they didn't want Hellena, why did they offer her anything? They were not obligated to.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

For context, this is on Platinum Games not Nintendo

[frostypants]

Obviously those who invest the most money in a product will collect the bulk of the revenue. If people like her think they can do it on their own and make the same profit so they can keep the majority of it, then they should. But they can't. Life isn't fair. /s

But for real. All this whining is getting so old. Think you "deserve" a bigger cut? Think the investors take too much? Then seriously, go off on your own, people...put up or shut up. Or at least unionize (or get a better union). Nobody owes you more than what you signed on for.

[CrimsonWing69]

@Hwhite

How do you know they paid Jennifer Hale more? Can you link me where you found that info?

[DeathTouch]

It doesn’t matter how much the JP voice actress earns. Every country has it’s differences, next thing you would be asking is how much the Brazilian voice actress is earning. Would you be willing to be paid the same as a Pakistanese doing the same job as you? Dense.

[CrimsonWing69]

What's the bad situation, huh?

She even states that Platinum did not do anything illegal and actually would pay the minimum established by the very Voice Actor Union she is a part of.

There was no underpaying in this situation. Underpaying would be if they didn't meet the requirement of the union she is a part of.

I'm not trying to go to war with you or call you dense, but you're not aware of the full facts. Instead, you heard a complaint, had a knee-jerk reaction, and now are championing because someone cried that they didn't get offered what they "deserved".

Let me ask you this, why didn't any other voice actor complain or decline the job? Do you have any idea what the allocated budget is for the Bayonetta 3 project? Do you know the financial situation of Platinum games? I keep hearing that the cost of game development is ever-rising.

If I ask you to do a job and tell you "this" is how much I'm willing to pay you for your time, you have a choice to either accept or decline. It's as simple as that. Go do a job where they pay you what you want. I wouldn't expect you to go on social media and try to cripple the sales of my product because I wouldn't pay you more.

If she's so great, she shouldn't have problems finding a gig that will pay her more. Let the "tomorrow guy" get a shot in the voice acting world then. I find it really odd nobody else on the project is complaining. They have every right to accept or decline the offer. Platinum did not force them or trick them into doing the job. Let that sink in the density for a bit.

[TricksterArrow]

@CrimsonWing69 Sorry to butt in, but if you think that 4k for 4 days of voice work for a high profile job with a big client is "good enough", you are seriously out of tune with the industry and should refrain from commenting things you do not understand or know about.

Voice actors get payed for the hour, not for "a day's work". This is already wrong right there. This is the staple. While the "tomorrow guy" may accept getting payed 40$ an hour to "get a shot in the acting world", someone that already has provided quality work consistently and is proved to be good, is well accepted and has knowledge of the source material should not settle for the same as the "tomorrow guy". You would never see the likes of Brad Pitt accepting the same amount as the "tomorrow guy" for a starring role in a big project, much the same, you would never expect the likes of Brad Pitt to accept quietly to being opted out from a role he played for years, with pretty good feedback from fans and critics alike, because the studio was not willing to pay what he deserves for doing his job well.

Any other drama that may or may not be involved with her hiring process could be debated, but as far as she claims it and the gaming studio has yet to deny is that, ultimately, they did not think that her talent was deserving of the asking price, to which, based on the above, is fallacy. Maybe they just wanted a change, maybe the creative director wanted another vision for the character, this is not the first or last time this happens or will happen, but 4k for 4 days of voice work (let's say, 12 hours?) for a high profile job, with a high profile client, a starring role with, arguably, the most dialogue in the game, some of it strenous as it's an action game, is silly.

You should read more about this job to make an informed opinion, mate.

[Loktai]

@TricksterArrow

I was paid by the line or word doing voiceover work not by the hour- but it was so many years ago. Or by the job not by the hour based on a provided amount of text / work, I have heard it being done "by the episode" as well when it has to do with a contract. Never by the hour though- because you agree to perform as expected and complete the project when you take the job and accept the pay.

[TricksterArrow]

@Loktai Like I said, by the hour is *the staple* nowadays. It's how voice actors make their living.

[CrimsonWing69]

@TricksterArrow

When I mentioned a “day’s work” I was referring to the hours. My apologies, I thought that was implied… Y’know, like 8 hours in a “work day”.

While I understand you believe this is a high profile actress, I did a simple IMDB check to look at her previous works and she has not done a lot. In fact a majority of the games she did were just Bayonetta roles and even then I’m not sure if they re-hired her or used samples from other games since some are the Anarchy Reigns game and Super Smash Bros.

Since you sound like an informed lad, can you tell me how many days, excuse me, hours it takes for this actress to record all the lines in a Bayonetta game?

Does it take weeks or months with each recording in a day taking 8 hours?

Comparing her to Brad Pitt is hilarious for 2 reasons: 1) Film actors get paid way more than voice actors, and 2) I’m assuming you’re equating her popularity and fan-base to a high profile celebrity that sells movies by name alone.

I’ll be frank, I had no idea who the name of the Bayonetta voice actress was I until this utterly ridiculous, yet so benign, situation happened.

So, inform me then and let me get on your grand and vast knowledgeable level here, how much do the average game voice actors get paid and how many hours does a Bayonetta project take for voice recordings?

Let’s do the math and see just how much they WOULD have underpaid this poor lady.

[TricksterArrow]

@CrimsonWing69 You seem confused or want to get into a straw man debate, which I rather not humor and actually get back into the topic at hand: I never said she is a high profile actress, I said this is a high profile project, to which she should be payed the equivalent to a high profile job. Let's ditch the Brad Pitt example for arguments sake. Even a C- Hollywood actor with no-name would be payed more than his average indie movie for the equivalent starring role in a blockbuster flick from a major studio. This is just how it goes, and that is how it should be with ANY job, not only in the entertainment industry.

For me to inform you how many hours the actress would need to record a game like Bayonetta, I would need access to the script, other than that, it would be an uniformed guess, which I rather not take. Based on projects that I worked on before, though, 32 hours is hardly enough to record an entire game. Between issues like faulty equipment, tech issues, outside noise, sick days, re-takes, game testing and script changes you can count at least 2 to 3 working days (8 hours) to quelling issues to already supposedly done and approved lines by the start of recordings alone.

[CrimsonWing69]

@TricksterArrow

I am confused, that’s why I’m asking you to bring me up to speed since you’re such a subject matter expert.

You mention Bayonetta 3 as a “high profile” project that this voice actress should make the pay of a high profile job. Are you saying Bayonetta is a AAA project? It’s more of a AA game and Platinum Games makes more budget titles than “high profile” games that come from say, Naughty Dog or Capcom.

You then make the comparison of C- Hollywood actors making more than indie actors in blockbuster movies. I would like to mention that Naomi Campbell of the Scream franchise that made a box office milestone: https://www.cinemablend.com...

She actually passed up the new movie because she wasn’t being offered the amount of pay she felt she “deserved”. You know what she did? She went on social media to explain why she wasn’t going to be in the new sequel but wished good to everyone involved and much success.

But let’s get back on topic. Since you can’t inform me of how many hours would be needed to record a game like Bayonetta let’s look at the entire duration of cutscenes and add a little extra for in-game voices and sound effects.

The total comes out to 2 hours and 28 minutes. Keep in mind this isn’t Bayonetta speaking for that long, that also includes the parts that only the other characters voice. Now you say 32 hours is hardly enough to record a game… yea maybe like Skyrim or something like The Witcher 3, but this is Bayonetta. That’s laughable to record 32 hours for 3 hours worth of dialogue at best.

Instead I’ll go with @il-JumperMT’s 4 hours for 4 days estimate. That seems absolutely reasonable given issues like faulty equipment, tech issues, outside noise, sick days, re-takes, game testing and script changes… and let’s be frank, ain’t nobody making script changes in a Bayonetta script, lol.

According to: https://performerlife.com/v...
“Experienced video game voice actors will receive $200 to $350 an hour or $50 to $200 per 100 words for their video game voice acting work.” Whereas “Novice voice actors earn between $1 and $5 per 100 words. Video game voice actors are also eligible for bonuses up to $2,100.”

Let’s do some quick math for 4 hours for 4 days at $350, that comes out to $5,600. That's the high for "experienced voice actors". Now, let’s do the math on the lower end for “experienced voice actors” at $200. That comes out to $3,200… blimey! And here Platinum would offer her $4,000.

Either way, this boycott is beyond selfish. You can't give me anything other than what I have to take your word as projects you worked for. We can already establish in this and the entertainment industry that it isn't so cut n' dry. We don't know how much Platinum Games has for a budget on this project, but what we do know is not a single other voice actor declined Platinum's offers nor have they come out against Bayonetta 3.

Did I do enough research to form a foundation to make an opinion, mate?

I'm curious, what games have you done voice work for? I'd like to check them out.

[TricksterArrow]

@CrimsonWing69 Again, you don't seem to be reading what I'm saying or are deliberately twisting things into straw men arguments.

Bayonetta is a high profile project, yes. We don't calculate high profile projects on the actual budget of the project (you seem to mix these two concepts), but the actual potential income and market value it has. Bayonetta has a huge potential profit margin for Platinum and Nintendo, specially for being, as you put it, an AA project with less financial risks than a huge and expensive AAA project.

Neve Campbell's situation does not apply here because she was invited back to the Scream franchise as a side character and a cameo, she is not the protagonist nor the title character anymore, which is the key information you so happened to (purposefuly?) leave out from your argument.

Your simplistic take of how time is calculated for dubbing once again proves you have no experience in this matter. A movie can take several weeks to finish it's dubbing, how can that be, if movies, most of the time, only have 1 and a half hour of content (sometimes less, from a dubbing perspective, since characters do not talk non-stop)? It certainly does not have action sounds, tutorials, readables that a game could have... Actors may repeat several lines again, and again, and again, until they get the right inflection and intention, and even so, they might be brought down again after for new takes or re-writting or at the director's content.

If you want further proof that what Platinum offered the VA is nigh preposterous, you should check the overwhleming support the VA is getting from professionals in the industry across all media, some even recounting their own similar experiences. But hey, I guess they are all pretentious and selfish and don't really understand how simple their job really is and that they should be happy to be paid anything at all rather than having the "tomorrow guy" take their role.

Regarding my gaming credits (with no NDAs), you can see them here: https://www.mobygames.com/d...

[Raziel983]

@CrimsonWing69 The 4 days 4 hours mention by @il-JumperMT is actually from an interview done with Hellena Taylor. You can find the video on youtube. From her own mouth she did the first game in 4 days at 4 hours per day. She read each line 3 times according to the interview.

[CrimsonWing69]

@TrickterArrow

I am picking up what you’re laying down, and no, I’m not trying to distort your position to argue against it. I’m simply replying to you with evidence to back up my claims, which I apparently lack the knowledge to form an opinion on.

If high profile equates to potential income and market value, then you are again wrong about Bayonetta being a high profile game. The series is niche and Bayonetta 2’s worldwide sales are estimated to be 1.04 million copies on Switch, we’ll say 2 mill to make up for digital sales. This is on the Switch, it actually sold way less on the Wii U.

If your argument revolves around the Bayonetta actress being paid in accordance to a “high profile” project then you’re backing the wrong franchise. If sales are to be the determining factor of the budget for the game then I’d assume you’d want lower development costs in order to bring in higher profits.

As for Neve Campbell, oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realize not being the main character makes it ok to under pay someone. You seem to miss my point on that completely, it was to show an actress who did not get the payment she believed she deserved and instead addressed it in a manner that did not result in boycotting the project.

My simplistic way of calculating for dubbing proves I have no experience in this matter… lol, ok then.

https://youtu.be/G1k7Cwr66O...

The very same voice actress said for the original Bayonetta game she did in 4 days working 4 hours, but what do I know, right mate?

Oh hang on, I got another one for you: https://www.backstage.com/m... (According to a seasoned VO performer)

“A typical session lasts four hours… A lot of the time you don’t see the lines for the other characters. You can ask for context, and you will typically do a couple takes per line, so make an interesting choice.”

This was from a Darin De Paul interview in May 17, 2022 of this year. But you’re right, what do I know, but what I read from these professionals… one being even the very person who wants to boycott this game?

I tried to make the point that making a movie vs doing voice overs is very different. I do not know why you keep trying to make the comparison other than with movies there’s a lot more than sitting in a recording booth reading lines, which means it takes longer to produce.

https://www.cityheadshots.c...

• How much do voice actors make a month? Well, doing the math, it winds up being about $4-6k per month.
• How many hours do voice actors work? It depends, but most jobs can take anywhere from 1-5 hours, and at $200/hr, that's $200-1000 per gig.

Gee Willikers, that $4,000 number sure does show up a lot when doing research on this, huh?

Also, can you link me to all the voice actors supporting Hellena Taylor? The only thing I'm seeing is Jennifer Hale responding and she basically says she respects Taylor and also says go buy the game.

Last thing, can you explain to me what a "Brazilian Translators" is and what "Review" means when doing voice over work? I looked at that link you sent and it says Localization and for the games it says Review and Brazilian Translator. Did you voice a character in these games? If so, which character? What took you 32 hours to do voice over work for?

I feel like my knowledge is expanding. Thanks, mate!

[TricksterArrow]

@CrimsonWing69 This is getting a bit tiresome, and I’m noticing you are getting a bit flustered, so let’s just keep it simple.

Yes, Bayonetta is a high profile game.

You can lower development costs while paying your talent what they deserve, this is not an excuse.

Regarding the Neve Campbell debate you decided to bring on about: the situation is not at all applicable here, there are several factors ranging from type of role, star power, a character that has her likeness rather than not, she is also not being replaced or recast… I could go on. If you think the situation is even remotely the same, again, it shows how little you understand about the industry as a whole. She is quite a prolific actor with one of the, arguably, most successful horror franchises under her belt. I agreed with you when you said that one shouldn’t really compare Brad Pitt to miss Hellena Taylor and I retracted that statement, but if you think she is comparable to Neve Campbell and her ordeal, well you are also wrong.

Bayonetta 1 has a lot less dialogue than Bayonetta 2. Plus, are you seriously saying that she should be payed the same amount for the third game in a franchise as the first one? Yikes.

A “typical session” for a voice work is how many hours a voice over talent agrees to work for. Miss Taylor’s “typical session” does not dictate the industry as whole. I had sessions go over 6 hours, others 2, others 1, others half an hour. Those were all typical as well. Not sure what point you were trying to make here regarding the subject at hand.

For people supporting her, you can check this video by YongYea, who, himself is also a voice over actor, is supporting her, and has quite the good insights that even someone like me, that actively works with dubbers, did not know about. https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Lastly, I’m a Brazilian Localization Manager, meaning I’m involved in every step of the way regarding localization of a game for the Brazilian market, including supervising dubbing sessions. My expertise is polishing dialogues for… exactly, dubbing.

And I’m always glad to bring light to the uneducated! Glad that you feel like you are learning something here!

[CrimsonWing69]

@TricksterArrow

Awwww I'm sorry you're getting tired. If it's any consolation I’m not flustered at all, if anything I hope we can be good friends from this. No need to keep it simple, either. You’re the professional here, hit me with it.

Haven’t we established from prominent game voice actors in the industry that stated high-end game voice actors make $200 - $350/hour? So, 4 days with 4 hours, making $4000 is still making more than $200/hour. I don’t believe she’s getting low-balled. I know she wants MORE and therefore declined the offer, but what is she supposed to make? $50,000? Again, you and I have no clue what the budget is for this game and what goes into not only development, but marketing. Why is it that no other voice actor has complained or any of her piers on the game are standing by her?

As for Neve Campbell, you really can’t connect the dots on that one? I mean, “prominent actress” not happy with what the studio would pay her for her work? Went on twitter to state why she wasn’t in the movie and didn’t ask people to boycott the movie? No connection? It seems comparable to me. Yeesh... I can maybe draw a schematic to help you if it's difficult for you to understand.

If I do a YouTube search for all cutscenes Bayonetta 1 comes in at 2:34:03 and Bayonetta 2 at 2:28:14. Can you show me where you’re getting that Bayonetta 2 she did substantially more voice acting work? I’m thinking you pulled that out of nowhere. Also, you have no clue how much she got paid for Bayonetta 1 or 2. So, how do you know she’s not getting more? We also don’t know how much more or less she’s getting when she might be sharing the spotlight with a new character. She very well could have less lines to record. Again, neither of us know, but I can tell you she ain’t doing 32-hour sessions. Again, she wanted MORE, but the math seems to add up. Do you want me to right down the calculations for you to follow? I'm not trying to be funny, either. I know math isn't everyone's strong suit.

You don’t get my point on sessions? Seriously, c’mon, now, buddy... how is this one a struggle for you? My whole point for the hours of sessions was to show the payment by hour and to examine how $4,000 isn’t abnormal for experienced voice actors. I used her previous account with the 4 days at 4 hours per day as a reference along with the 2022 standard for game voice actor pay. I even showed interviews with 2 different prominent voice actors that say that experienced game voice actors make between $4000 - $6000 a month. To put it in perspective Taylor did 4 days at 16 hours for the entirety of Bayonetta 1. Are you ok? Do you want me to break it down in more detail? Aren’t you supposed to be the smart one here?

Oh wow, ok Yong Yea, definitely a prominent voice actor. I honestly, thought you meant there were more supporting this who were recognized in the industry. Jennifer Hale says she respects her wanting more, so there’s that…

So, how much do your voice actors make? I’m curious if the US standard of $200 - $350/hour is the same for you.

I appreciate it, mate! Yea you’ve taught me…you taught me, hmmm, well, um, I googled a lot to research and got to present my findings to you for discussion. So, thanks for what you’ve sort of tried to do.

[CrimsonWing69]

@TricksterArrow

I found something very telling today, I thought it'd be fun to share with you, y'know, being the expert n' all.

https://www.polygon.com/pla...

In here it states, and I quote:

"PlatinumGames’ $4,000 offer is NOT EXCEPTIONALLY LOW for a lot of voice actors. Video game voice actors have spoken out on Twitter over the weekend about notoriously low pay — something The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has previously addressed. SAG-AFTRA is a labor union for actors — Taylor is a member of — that regulates minimum rates for eligible performers and works. Video game voice actors must be paid $956.75 per four-hour days, with three voices maximum, under current SAG-AFTRA terms. The hourly rate is $478.50 for a single voice, with $319.00 added for additional voices."

Interesting indeed, sort of my whole freakin' point I've been saying this entire time. But hold up... I got another quote from the article.

"Taylor had previously told a Nintendo podcast in 2018 that she recorded her lines for both Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2 over four days, with each session lasting four hours — in this case, the $4,000 minimum pay rate would line up."

A whaaaaaaaa!? But YOU said Bayonetta 2 took longer to record... something doesn't add up here. I'm starting to question if you know what you're talking about.

You being in the industry n' all, did you not know about the SAG-AFTRA union and the terms they use for the acceptable minimum for the actors to get paid per 4 hour days? I mean, you had to because in my responses I even linked to articles saying this, only to be met with you telling me "how little I understand about the industry as a whole." And if you didn't know, then you should have.

You're right, it is fun to bring light to the uneducated.

Seems that $4,000 is actually not low for the industry you know so well, LOL.

Ball's in your court, mate. This is too fun!

[ocelot07]

@CrimsonWing69

So keep quiet for scummy practices thats what your saying?

A friend I know does voice work for adverts. On average she makes roughly a little less than what this lady has been offered to voice for Bayonetta. These adverts are like 45 seconds long. Takes a day to record each one.

$4k for a video game job in my opinion is a insult.

[CrimsonWing69]

You do realize they didn’t do anything illegal, right? She actually did by breaking NDA.

And What the hell scummy practice did they do, exactly? Offering what they are willing to pay and the voice actress declined?

Tell me what the other voice actors made for this game.

I don’t see a single other voice actor from the game complaining or trying to harm the sales of the game. Why is that? If it’s so “scummy” why didn’t they decline, huh?

From my understanding the last games didn’t take long to do the voice recordings.

You literally listened to a person complain and are now white knighting without knowing the full facts. How long does she do the voice recordings for?

Is it a few days, a week, a month? $4000 for a few days of work is pretty good to me.

[staticall]

@aaronaton
No offence, but what's stopping you then?

You have to understand that good voice acting:
1) takes a lot of practice and talent. You need to have a good range, have a consistent performance and actually act with your voice. You can't just start doing voice acting and expected to be paid this much.
2) is an inconsistent job. Meaning that VA might work for a few weeks and then be done till next game is in development (aka, years away). You have to keep your voice in perfect condition to be ready for anything (DLC, new voice lines) and earn yourself a living. For example, developers do a lot of work, but they have a constant stream of work; voice actors do not have that.
3) is a must for a good game (or movie, or whatever else). VA have to fit the characters' look, personality. Imagine if Joel from the last of us had a nasal voice? That would be a totally different character, one that acts tough and then speak like he's not, like an emotional disconnect or something. Or Geralt from the Witcher having a cracking teenage voice, would that be good? No, i don't think so.

Try talking for 4 hours a day for 4 days straight, while acting and being in character, without your voice becoming raspy. It's a hard job is what i'm trying to say.

And VA is the least of games budget. Especially if it's part 3, you know. They're just greedy, simple as that.

[il-JumperMT]

its 4 hours work across 4 days.

[aarallen1]

That requires talent though.

[Terry_B]

Captain Basch lives!

[RetroCaptainSteve]

Maybe next time don't call your fans "insects."

[MrChow666]

wow did he really say that?

[staticall]

Yep. And not once
https://twitter.com/pg_kami...
https://twitter.com/pg_kami...
https://twitter.com/pg_kami...
https://twitter.com/pg_kami...

[SinisterKieran]

You know, in some cases, they don’t even offer the iconic voice the role. Yet kojima didn’t get this much crap

[dumahim]

He did get a lot of shit, but at least he was honest about it and decided he wanted someone else and didn't play games by giving a lowball offer.

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

Kojima also didn't publicly tell lies about the situation either.

"Various overlapping circumstances made it difficult for Hellena Taylor to reprise her role." - Yusuke Miyata, 5th October. They put the blame on her for not having the time.

The theory that they lowballed her to get rid of her assumes that lowballing isn't something that they normally do. Sadly, I doubt that's the case. I believe they lowballed her because she hadn't gotten much recent work and in their eyes lacked bargaining power for a decent wage, and when she didn't take it, they just ended up having to spend much more money to replace her.

[sinspirit]

He got a lot of heat for it actually. It was a huge topic for a long portion of the games development.

[dumahim]

Yep. Lots of people didn't like that David Hayter got dumped like that for a movie star. All the apologists excuses were flying. "He's not the same character. He's a different age." Didn't seem to matter that the Japanese voice actor didn't change.

[SoulWarrior]

This guy is such an unlikeable man-child.

[gangsta_red]

Things have been rough for Platinum as of late.

[il-JumperMT]

4k for 4 hours of work if we take voice acting from previous 2 games.Some people dont even do that amount of money in a whole month

[Bathory666]

Good for him. He ain’t got time for this bs.

[anast]

The entertainment business is sleazy. Embrace it. Leave "your" Twitter open.

The actress should have never signed the contract. Take the L and figure out a way for voice actors to get royalties.

[H9]

I doubt he actually deleted his account and restored it, more like he blocked people too much the algorithm terminated his account and he had to contact them for it, he wouldn't share this version if it's true because it's insulting

[Auron]

Now only if twitter would get deleted.

[mastershredder]

People are treating this like she was contacted/signed on, or did the work already. She was not and she did nothing for the new title, but blow up about a job she did not get casted for (not picked/not casted/not to be paid). Regardless of her previous performances, She got dumped in the casting process (I'm more than certain it goes beyond what was being offered, because you absolutely don't act like this unless you have some serious issues). She did not do anything for the third game, she was not contracted to do it and clearly is butt hurt that someone else is doing it for less money. She is ENTITLED because she believes she is deserves a chunk of the Bayonetta profits (even taking the job; and again, it was not offered to her with large sums payout in mind). It's not her stance (I believe VO actors and other talent should get paid more), but the message of " ME" (which she needs to get over herself) that is ugly and disagreeable. This is about her getting snubbed because she finds herself to be a pedigree above others (and is also ahem... a reason she's not back..cough..) Also ugly is her "I'm Bayonetta" attitude as if she did something monumental to get casted for it the first time (although that feeble clout-grab for fan support is adorable). Honey, you are a goofy voice in a goofy game with crappy downsampled sound and FX. If you don't like what they offer, you move on. The uglier side of casting... its right here. Now if only every actor weaponized their casting flubs...oh yeah they don't cause that's a no, no.

[Christopher]

***She did not do anything for the third game, she was not contracted to do it and clearly is butt hurt that someone else is doing it for less money***

Sorry, but Jennifer Hale is not doing the voice acting for the protagonist of a game and taking weeks to record for only $4k. She is definitely getting paid her standard for any other video game role, and it's top-tier pay.

This is clearly a situation where they wanted to "upgrade" the voice actor to Jennifer Hale level and so massively went below what the original voice actress would take for the job to have her decline rather than them just rehiring without offering her a contract.

Now, the reason they wanted to get Jennifer Hale? The original actress hasn't worked since 2014 and Jennifer Hale is one of the most active voice actors as well as one of the most notable out there.

I can't begrudge them wanting to upgrade the voice actress, but they did it in a pretty dickish way rather than just being honest.

[rippermcrip]

She did 4 four hour sessions for the first game. $4000 would be standard pay for that in recent years. If that was all that was needed for 3rd game, she was not given a bad offer.

[Christopher]

@rippermcrip: Jennifer Hale is costing them way more than $4k, which is my point. Your point on how much she should get has absolutely nothing to do with what I said. Just FYI, they specifically came back to a lower offer than their initial. Don't know how much that original was, but they specifically came back and said "Wait, no, even less."

[ROCKY28]

4K is what you would pay for trailer VO not a whole game
Should of received at least 25K
But then again I do not know their budget for VO

[Angyobangyo]

So the person who blocks people and calls anyone who isn't Japanese insects for the mere mention of his name on Twitter or if you reply to him in English turns out to terrible and borderline racist person. Shocking /s

They did Hellena dirty. They bascially low balled her knowing she wasn't going to accept that offer to get someone else in. Basically take it or leave it. While legal, it's morally disgusting and now PG and Nintendo are wondering how to respond to the accusations, as so far they have said nothing.

A lot of VA have come out in support of Hellena, because they know how scummy the industry is. Funny that some users here think people are white knighting for Hellena. You honestly think established VA, Jennifer Hale did the work $4K? You lot are white knighting for corporations which is even worse.