Voice actress Hellena Taylor, known for playing Bayonetta, has taken to Twitter to dispute a claim made by PlatinumGames. Earlier this month, it was revealed that the role of Bayonetta had been recast, and that Jennifer Hale would be taking over for Hellena Taylor, because of scheduling conflicts making it difficult to reprise the role, at least according to PlatinumGames. However, shortly after that announcement, Taylor posted a series of video messages on Twitter, explaining that the decision had nothing to do with any difficulties in regard to timing or scheduling, and instead was due to the fact that Platinum offered only $4,000 for her to voice act the entire game. She then asked for Bayonetta fans to boycott the game, and instead take the money they would have spent purchasing the game, and donate it to a charity.

I understand that boycotting this game is a personal choice and there are those that won’t, and that’s fine. But, if you are someone who cares about people, who cares about the world around you, who cares about who gets hurt with these financial decisions, then I urge you to boycott this game.

Taylor says she only wanted a livable wage for her performance and fair payment for the time and effort that voicing the protagonist of a video game franchise that has sold over $450 million dollars. PlatinumGames had made Taylor reaudition for the role of Bayonetta, because "sometimes voices change with time", but she was once more chosen to voice the title character in Bayonetta 3. After she was given the part, though, she was given "an insulting offer" by the company. This prompted Taylor to send a letter to the director of Bayonetta 3, Hideki Kamiya, who sent her back a "final offer" of $4,000 to voice all the lines in the game.

Friends, Worldlings, Bayonutters. Hear ye!#PlatinumGames #Nintendo #Bayonetta #Bayonetta3 #Bayonutters #Boycott #NintendoEurope #NintendoAmerica #NintendoJapan pic.twitter.com/h9lwiX2bBt

— Hellena Taylor (@hellenataylor) October 15, 2022

She also spoke about Jennifer Hale, who will be the voice of Bayonetta in the upcoming game, and that she wishes her well, but that she also believes that Hale "has no right to say she is Bayonetta". Taylor mentioned that speaking up about this was a breach of her non-disclosure agreement, but that she has nothing of monetary value to be taken, so she decided to speak up.

Hideki Kamiya responded to the claims with a chain of various Tweets, and a wave of blocking people who Tweeted at him--something he is known to do--to the point that it got him temporarily restricted on the platform. His main reply to Taylor was, "Sad and deplorable about the attitude of untruth. That's what all I can tell now. By the way, BEWARE OF MY RULES", and while the latter half of the message sounds like a threat, it is moreso likely referring to Kamiya's tendency to block Twitter users for breaking his "rules".

People online were upset by this, and some even were blaming Jennifer Hale for taking the role at all. Hale has not yet made any comment on the matter, though she has notably liked numerous Tweets that claim she can't speak on the matter due to NDAs, or that she was unaware of the drama in the first place when she was cast. Other voice actors in the video game industry offered their input, such as Sean Chiplock, who said the $4000 appeared to be "union rate", and that he was paid "approx 2,000-3,000" for his work voicing Revali, Teba, and the Great Deku Tree in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Meanwhile, he says his two offscreen lines in the film Detective Pikachu earned him more money than his work on BOTW, and that even voicing characters in the indie game Freedom Planet was worth more than the voicing roles in BOTW, because unlike video game voice acting work, he was given sales royalties from the role.

 

[UltraDolphinRevolution]

What a bunch of babies.

Programming is hard work. That´s why everyone wants to be a designer.

I don´t care if voice actors of a main character are paid 4k. Buhu.

You aren't a british woman I guess?

If I feel like it, you better not misgender me.

 

[Deleted member 586536]

I'm probably going to have a take a bit controversial among the pro-union (read: based and economically literate) crowd here so lemme preface by saying that all voice actors (and all workers frankly) should be unionized. Now, all of that said, I have to confess I'm really hesitant to just take her word at this because the whole ordeal is "he said, she said" shit all over again. I'd like to wait for further info but I'll be holding off my purchase until I know what really happened, if ever.

it's not controversial at all. I'd like to hear more details too.

Post automatically merged: Oct 17, 2022

I don´t care if voice actors of a main character are paid 4k. Buhu.

Great, so you don't care about people having a living wage/pay, and therefore, you believe voice actors and by extent not carrying their well being , aren't worth anything, . You know, to buy food, keep a roof over their head.Got it, and get out.

 

[UltraDolphinRevolution]

Great, so you don't care about people having a living wage/pay, and therefore, you believe voice actors and by extent not carrying their well being , aren't worth anything, . You know, to buy food, keep a roof over their head.Got it, and get out.

4k for a few days of work is more than a living wage.
Now that she is out of work and made herself unappealing to other employers, she could become her own boss and create an only-fans.

 

[Deleted member 586536]

4k for a few days of work is more than a living wage.

4k as a subcontractor for about two weeks of work is not enough. (because it's not a few days, unless you want to spend weeks recovering the voice you burnt out)
Since the immediate moment your done with that gig, you have to look for the next. and you don't know when you WILL get that next gig. That's why it's unreasonable.
Your demonstrating that you never worked in the voice acting by how stupid your claims are.
Because also several OTHER voice actors stood up for her. Ones with long ass histories

 

[eyeliner]

Even if her voice appears on the many remakes that might come afterwards, she has already been payed for her work, or else, she would've had wanted to boycott the previosly released games too. Unless their contract specifies that she will receive payment for whatever happens to the franchise after its original release, she can't argue that she wasn't payed properly. She's trying to boycott the game because legally she can't do anything.

Whatever happens to the franchise after she does her job and gets paid for it, it's not of her concern as she doesn't hold the right for the IP. Just for her voice acting, which, again, got paid for.

And no, people are not less intelligent here, but more free minded and more crucial about what they support and/or agree with.

They don't just take blind steps because they were told to.

Unless the contract specifies that the voices are able to appear in subsequent releases, compensations will have to be payed. It has happened before.

 

[jomaper]

Oh no someone who’s job is to sit down and talk into a mic is only offered 4k?

I don’t give a damn

Also idk what she was trying to gain from this. Career suicide? No one’s going to hire this lady for a gig after this little stunt lmao.

What a shit take. You wouldn't say this about a singer either, right?
The last part I agree with.

 

[mspy]

Watched the clips on her twitter and the all thing looked like woketivism and I doubt many people would boycott the game especially if it turns out to be really good.
No doubt that the cancel culture will rise in social media but in the end it's possible that this will be a case of ''any publicity - even a bad one - is good publicity'' and more copies will be sold to people who didn't know about the game.

The main problem seems about having voice acting as your job and make a decent living out of it.
You can voice an entire game in the timeframe of what would be a single workday and then you are possibly left in a long hiatus until you can find your next gig hence it would seem fair to have a voice actor paid for a day's work the same as a dev is paid for a month's work because the dev kinda has a stable job that doesn't end after 1 day.

I know that there's more to voice acting, prep and stuff, but generally speaking it is not seen as the type of job that anyone can't do, especially in the west where it is not respectable as much as a profession, I mean it's very common to see people voice acting something just because of their celebrity status in a country and not of talent. It's not the same as learning to code, everyone naturally knows how to speak albeit there is more to it when it comes to voice acting but not everyone knows how to code without going out of the way to learn it.

Movie acting on another hand is viewing differently because with movies just by having a recognizable actor in the cover it will make substantially more money even if the movie itself sux which is why it matters way more.
Sadly, the same cannot be said for voice acting in a game. I'd argue that VA would be one of the last things most people would be worried about in a game, it would be nice for it to be good but even if bad you can live with it if the gameplay is good. Probably the first thing one would want to now about a game is who is developing it and not who is voicing (thou voicing can be part of the developing).

 

[UltraDolphinRevolution]

4k as a subcontractor for about two weeks of work is not enough. (because it's not a few days, unless you want to spend weeks recovering the voice you burnt out)

Oh my god the horror. Teachers in certain schools scream for hours every day. The few screams she had to perform certainly broke her vocal cords. Porn actresses deserve a screaming bonus. But male porn actors get scolded for screaming. The injustice in this world is sickening.

Since the immediate moment your done with that gig, you have to look for the next. and you don't know when you WILL get that next gig. That's why it's unreasonable.

Yeah, that´s the nature of a voice actor, translator etc. Unless a company hires you long-term. That´s why many voice actors have other jobs as well. Buhu.

Your demonstrating that you never worked in the voice acting by how stupid your claims are.
Because also several OTHER voice actors stood up for her. Ones with long ass histories

You are demonstrating that you have never lifted more than a finger in any kind of job. Going to work despite back or limb pain from working is the lived experience (first time I use it unironically) for millions of people. Grow the fuck up. I have done voice work but I don´t care if you believe me. Believe women.

BTW you do realize that you sound like one, right? "So you don´t think blabla"
To mirror your way of talking: So you don´t care that people earn less than Mrs Bayonetta in a whole year hauling bricks?

 

[anhminh]

The more I read about this, the more I think they just lowbait her out of the game because her attitude.

 

[Nincompoopdo]

Boycott? I am still playing it - with Yuzu at 4K 60fps visuals - for free.

 

[SG854]

Grow the fuck up. I have done voice work but I don´t care if you believe me. Believe women.

Did you voice a Dolphin?

 

[limpbiz411]

a classic case of woah is me, I'll take 9 copies

 

[VartioArtel]

so in your opinion, all voice actor of a main character should be paid 4k$ for a whole video game?

$4,000 for 4 sessions of 4 hours according to the sources out there. $4000 / 16 = $250 an hour. For 4 days of work across a single week. This is excluding any future pay they may give her for remakes, trailers, etc etc that use her voice afterwords.

"A whole video game" with at most 16 used hours of voiced content. If that's all she has, then yes, $4000 sounds reasonable.

Not only that, but from what others have said, the amount NORMALLY EXPECTED for a worker in her union in that volume of time is $3200. She was getting a 25% 'markup' offer.

$250 is so well over the minimum wage that I'm still jealous. If she can't find work that pays that well, as often, outside of Bayonetta, other studios must be avoiding her for a reason. I would guess it's entitlement like this.

 

[LainaGabranth]

4k for a few days of work is more than a living wage.
Now that she is out of work and made herself unappealing to other employers, she could become her own boss and create an only-fans.

Guarantee this guy has literally never worked in a single trade or profession in his life lol

 

[Jonna]

Oh my god the horror. Teachers in certain schools scream for hours every day. The few screams she had to perform certainly broke her vocal cords. Porn actresses deserve a screaming bonus. But male porn actors get scolded for screaming. The injustice in this world is sickening.

Yeah, that´s the nature of a voice actor, translator etc. Unless a company hires you long-term. That´s why many voice actors have other jobs as well. Buhu.

You are demonstrating that you have never lifted more than a finger in any kind of job. Going to work despite back or limb pain from working is the lived experience (first time I use it unironically) for millions of people. Grow the fuck up. I have done voice work but I don´t care if you believe me. Believe women.

BTW you do realize that you sound like one, right? "So you don´t think blabla"
To mirror your way of talking: So you don´t care that people earn less than Mrs Bayonetta in a whole year hauling bricks?

That's a strawman.

 

[City]

Incredible, I agree with this and it's really sad to see.

It's one thing to be offered that for a brand new IP that has no track record of sales or brand recognition of any kind. However I INSTANTLY though of Futurama and Joe DiMaggio saying fuck no to the same *kind* of situation as this.

I put apart of the quote in bold because this is what it all comes down too. This is the 3rd main entry in this franchise, she is experienced in the role at this point, and with who she is working with. Yet she shouldn't be paid a penny more than if she was doing this for the first time?

I'd LOVE to know how many of you after putting in time at your job and be 100% ok with being paid the same amount at someone else who just started, and then have your employer say: we don't have to give you any kind of raise as we can just pay this other person a starting wage to do it instead. Doesn't mean anything that for the past length of time YOU were the one helping the business make more money as things you took part of became successful.

I doubt one person here would be ok with that.

We have ZERO information on just how much more was more. Clearly it was typically corporate bullshit of fuck and exploit the *normal* workers that are like most of us.

The fact a large percent of the comments are against the core principal of what this is about is fucking incredible. This thread should be filled with comments asking for more information because this kind of shit is why unions became a thing in the first place, and why the "gig" economy badly needs something like it to protect the working class, like 90% of the users here are.

Seriously, this is why GBATemp does so well because it caters to working class people like us, and helps us fight back against getting fucked and exploited by these companies as their consumers.

God forbid anyone get paid more than the minimum possible, unless it's you and you alone? Then fuck them right?

What an absolute shit take by yet another simp.

The issue isn’t about her refusing a “low” ($4k for a two days’ job is low, ok) pay. The issue is that she’s trying to put up a huge controversy, trying to damage the company, the people working on the game AND THE NEW VOICE ACTOR. I get that people like you go “OOGA BOOGA” when you see a female in distress and have to rush to her aid, but maybe try using your head rather than your dick.

I'm probably going to have a take a bit controversial among the pro-union (read: based and economically literate) crowd here so lemme preface by saying that all voice actors (and all workers frankly) should be unionized. Now, all of that said, I have to confess I'm really hesitant to just take her word at this because the whole ordeal is "he said, she said" shit all over again. I'd like to wait for further info but I'll be holding off my purchase until I know what really happened, if ever.

Who tf are you and what did you do to LainaGabaranth

Post automatically merged: Oct 17, 2022

Guarantee this guy has literally never worked in a single trade or profession in his life lol

Oh ok, I got worried for a second.

 

[Deleted member 586536]

$4,000 for 4 sessions of 4 hours according to the sources out there. $4000 / 16 = $250 an hour. For 4 days of work across a single week. This is excluding any future pay they may give her for remakes, trailers, etc etc that use her voice afterwords.

Except it wasn't 4 for sessions. It was for the entire game. The job she applied for was non unionized.

 

[tbgtbg]

Wasn't planning to buy it anyway. Should I boycott downloading it for free? That'll show them!

 

[VartioArtel]

Except it wasn't 4 for sessions. It was for the entire game. The job she applied for was non unionized.

Yes. And y'know how much the average non-unionized pay is? $250. An hour. That's 4 sessions of 4 hours.

If anybody out there is curious what typical SAG-AFTRA VG rates are for actors, it's approximately $1000 for a session that can last up to 4 hours. The NON-union rate is $250/hr with a 2hr minimum guarantee. There are no royalties based on game sales or anything else.

4000 / 16 = $250. That's 4 sessions of 4 hours, as the story's came through.

Which fits everything we've heard thus far.
If Recording finishes in 4 sessions of 4 hours (16 hours of work), then that means that 'for an entire game', the non-unionized price was $4000. There's no need to try to argue connotatively about this, semantically she was offered going rate, as a Voice actress with no popular roles outside of Bayonetta herself.

Edit: To kinda suffocate your argument: Bayonetta isn't exactly a voice-heavy, plot-heavy game.

 

[Jayro]

I'm still buying it, but dam, sucks for her. That's why you always get a lawyer to negotiate contracts.