The situation between former Bayonetta voice actress Hellena Taylor, developer PlatinumGames, and publisher Nintendo is getting uglier by the passing day. Since Taylor’s first public call to attention, highlighting what she deemed to be significant disrespect being shown by the developer for her efforts and talents, citing an offer of $4,000 USD for her to reprise her role in the upcoming Bayonetta 3, there has been quite a lot of commentary from a range of different parties. Firstly PlatinumGames vice-president Hideki Kamiya went on a Twitter blocking spree and was suspended from the platform temporarily, then the new Bayonetta, Jennifer Hale issued a comment but was under tight NDA, and then reports from both VGC and Bloomberg suggested that Taylor was actually offered more than she declared in her tweets. If that wasn’t all messy enough, now Taylor has doubled down in a number of ways, but also clarified some information from her initial videos, that has thrown yet another cat among the pigeons.
Both VGC and Bloomberg had reported that Taylor was in fact offered a sum of $15,000 USD, a figure that was within SAG/AFTRA union guidelines, but Taylor has bitten back, confirming the figure, but also has redirected her attention towards those reporting the news suggesting that “powerful journalists” were trying to discredit her.
Taylor issued a new series of tweets where she addresses a range of the comments that have been about or to her in recent days, and it’s a messy read. She says, ““It has come to my attention that some people are calling me a liar and golddigger. I feel the need to defend myself and my reputation in the industry. As I posted on part three of my video thread. I explained that their first offer was too low. That offer was 10,000 dollars total. Remember, this is 450 million dollar franchise, (not counting merchandise.) I then wrote in Japanese to Hideki Kamiya, asking for what I was worth. I thought that as a creative, he would understand. He replied saying how much he valued my contribution to the game and how much the fans wanted me to voice the game. I was then offered an extra [5,000]! So, I declined to voice the game.”
One of the many reports in this time spoke of how Taylor was offered $4,000 USD for five sessions, Taylor pushed back on this as well, saying “Any other lies, such as 4,000 for 5 sessions are total fabrications. There were not ‘extensive negotiations.’ I’ve also been informed of ridiculous fictions, such as I asked for 250,000 dollars. I am a team player. I was just asking for a fair, living wage in line with the value that I bring to this game. I was paid a shockingly low total of £3000 total for the first game. A little more for the second. I wanted to voice her. I have drummed up interest in this game ever since I started on Twitter in 2011.”
Taylor’s final jab was to the journalists reporting the conflicting news, saying “There are people who are attempting to throw shade and discredit what I say. The industry is powerful, they have powerful journalists too. They are trying to save their asset. Don’t fall for it!”
The situation grows messier but the focus is about to shift to the game itself with Bayonetta 3 launching this week on Nintendo Switch. Hopefully, a resolution that satisfies all parties can come soon.
