Bayonetta’s voice actors weigh in on pay controversy

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A debate about voice actor pay has kicked off surrounding the launch of Bayonetta 3. The character’s former voice actor has alleged that she was offered a low price to reprise her role, which she found insulting. Now the character’s current VA has also spoken on the topic, reiterating her support for actors, but citing a non-disclosure agreement.

Bayonetta’s former voice actor, who has voiced her in both previous games and the Smash titles is Hellena Taylor. Over the weekend, Taylor released a multi-part video on Twitter detailing why she is not reprising her role in the upcoming game. According to Taylor, she auditioned for the role again, and was eventually offered $4,000 USD as a flat rate for all of her work, which she called an “insult.” She added that she suffered from mental health problems as a result of her financial difficulties.

Taylor asked that fans boycott Bayonetta 3 and donate the money they would have spent on it to charity instead. Several voice actors have responded to her story with details on how they’ve been paid for roles, in both the video games and anime dubbing industry.

Taylor’s video came shortly after an interview GameInformer did with Bayonetta 3 director Yusuke Miyata, who said that Taylor couldn’t reprise the role for “overlapping circumstances.” Taylor implied several months ago that she might not