Bayonettacreator and executive director ofBayonetta 3Hideki Kamiya has shared a response following a call for a boycott from Bayonetta voice actor Hellena Taylor. Taylor askedBayonettafans to boycottBayonetta 3and to send their money to charity instead, after she says Platinum offered her an “immoral” $4,000 to voice Bayonetta in the sequel. Kamiya has since shared his immediate thoughts on Twitter in what’s the first official response to Taylor’s boycott.
The root of the issue is what Taylor describes as a worker’s rights problem. Taylor believes that voice actors deserve to be paid a living wage, describing Platinum’s $4,000 offer to do voice work inBayonetta 3as an insult. Taylor was ultimately replaced, with notable gaming industry voice actor Jennifer Hale being announced asBayonetta’s new voice actor forBayonetta 3. Platinum Games would say that Taylor was replaced due to “overlapping circumstances.”
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Now Hideki Kamiya has commented onTaylor’s call for aBayonetta 3boycottthrough the Platinum Games executive director’s Twitter account. Without directly mentioning Taylor, her accusations, or the boycott, Kamiya says, “Sad and deplorable about the attitude of untruth. That’s what all I can tell now.”
Kamiya also added to the end of his tweet, “By the way, BEWARE OF MY RULES,” referring to a strict set of social media rules he uses to explain banning certain people that message him – even aboutPlatinum projects. These rules have historically been looked at as a joke, but given the context of his latest tweet he’s being criticized for his tact. In the past, Kamiya has said his rules help keep “brainless insects” out of his feed, with promises to ban any non-Japanese messages mentioning him.
Suffice to say, Kamiya’s tweet is unlikely to help the situation.Kamiya is already somewhat of a controversial figuredue to his Twitter presence and aggressive communications with fans. Using social media to then respond to serious allegations by saying they’re fake, but adding no further context, is likely to only complicate matters.
That’s not to say that Kamiya’s response doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously, of course. It’s very possible that Platinum’s low offer to Taylor was intended to end its working relationship with her. The reasons for doing so remain unclear. They could be “immoral” or they could be justified. Few would disagree that video gamevoice actors deserve to be paid and treated betterthan they often are, though.
