Voice actress Hellena Taylor calls for a boycott of Bayonetta 3, and her replacement Jennifer Hale issues a statement.

 

 

Bayonetta 3 voice actress Jennifer Hale finally broke her silence on the title character’s voice. The news that Hale will replace Hellena Taylor has sparked a lot of reactions after she revealed the salary offer on social media.

Taylor called for a boycott of Bayonetta 3 over the controversy, and many fans across social media joined her.

The consensus was that PlatinumGames wanted to recast the role with Hale anyway, but they parted ways with Taylor in a humiliating fashion. Taylor said that the publisher of Bayonetta 3, PlatinumGames, only offered her a total of $4,000 to return for the third instalment. Not incidentally, Taylor claims that the publisher humiliatingly arranged another audition for the role. As a result, Taylor and PlatinumGames parted ways, but not precisely amicably.

Hale remained silent on the situation, only breaking the silence on Monday afternoon.

Jennifer Hale took to Twitter to mention that she had signed a non-disclosure agreement, which prevented her from talking about the Bayonetta 3 story. Hale said that she hopes fans remember that a large development team is working on Bayonetta 3 and its gameplay, so it’s not just the voice actors affected by this situation and the potential boycott.

Hale was cast as the voice of Bayonetta after PlatinumGames’ Yusuke Miyata said that many actors had applied for the role. Miyata added that he understands the fans’ concerns about the change, but he is confident that Hale’s skills will make her voice almost identical to Taylor’s.

Still, this was not enough for many fans, who continued to boycott and voice their displeasure.

As for Bayonetta 3, the release is going ahead as planned. Taylor pointed out that the franchise has already made over $450 million and continues to call for a boycott from fans. She noted that his personality is starting to resemble the character she plays because of a conflict between her and PlatinumGames.

Taylor went on to say that people who care deeply about the people affected by the financial decisions of big corporations should continue the boycott and that the offer the publisher gave her was not a living wage. Reacting to this, series creator Hideki Kamiya said Taylor’s reaction was “sad and regrettable”, causing a further uproar.

Source: Twitter

About Bayonetta 3: pic.twitter.com/e4VrclEQIm

— Jennifer Hale (@jhaletweets) October 17, 2022