If you’re at PlatinumGames, Nintendo, or if you’re voice actors Jennifer Hale or Hellena Taylor – you’ve had better weeks than the one just gone by. Beginning with Taylor’s accusations of being undervalued and mistreated as the voice of Bayonetta in the casting process for the upcoming Bayonetta 3. Since then things have gotten uglier, with the franchise’s director Hideki Kamiya temporarily leaving Twitter due to the backlash, and then the new voice of Bayonetta in Bayonetta 3, Jennifer Hale facing a torrent of abuse from internet users before issuing her own statement, despite being under NDA. Most recently, a new account, compiled by both Bloomberg and VGC suggests that Taylor turned down a much larger sum than her original videos suggested.
Now it’s PlatinumGames’ turn to comment, and while they’ve not addressed the scenario directly, they’ve done one thing that needed to be done – attempted to cool down tensions, and plead for respect to be shown towards all sides in the argument. The developer took to social media via its official channels to reach out for calm saying,
We at PlatinumGames offer our sincerest appreciation to everyone who has contributed to creating the Bayonetta series over the years, as well as the community that has served as its foundation.
We give our full support to Jennifer Hale as the new Bayonetta, and align with everything in her statement.
We ask people to please refrain from any further comments that would disrespect Jennifer or any other contributors to the series.
The comments that PlatinumGames are referring to are what Hale had publically issued previously, where she said,
As a longtime member of the voice acting community, I support every actor’s right to be paid well and have advocated consistently for this for years. Anyone who knows me, or has followed my career, will know that I have great respect for my peers, and that I am an advocate for all members of the community. I am under NDA and am not at liberty to speak regarding this situation. My reputation speaks for itself. I sincerely ask everyone to keep in mind that this game has been created by an entire team of hard-working, dedicated people and I hope everyone will keep an open mind about what they’ve created,” she continued. Finally, I hope that everyone involved may resolve their differences in an amicable and respectful way.
Bayonetta 3 is on track for release on October 28, 2022 on the Nintendo Switch, with the game already in the hands of reviewers, a preview embargo having lifted last week. Soon we’ll know whether the decision to not continue with Taylor was the correct decision for the video game itself. For now, let’s all ensure that we’re being respectful to Taylor, Hale, Kamiya and PlatinumGames as a developer.
