Jennifer Hale, the new actor behind the voice of Bayonetta in the upcoming Bayonetta 3, has responded to the controversy surrounding the recasting of the role that has emerged in the last few days.
While Hale cannot speak to the specifics of this game, given that she is under NDA, she states that “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.”
About Bayonetta 3: pic.twitter.com/e4VrclEQIm
— Jennifer Hale (@jhaletweets) October 17, 2022
The controversy came over the weekend when original voice actor Hellena Taylor explain that she had not reprised the role for Bayonetta 3 after being given an “insulting offer” for her work. Specifically, a final offer was given to do the whole game for $4000 USD. She went on to ask fans to boycott the game, and stated that her replacement, Jennifer Hale, is “not the voice of Bayonetta.”
Game Director on the original Bayonetta and PlatinumGames Vice President Hideki Kamiya has seemingly hit back at Taylor’s claims, saying “Sad and deplorable about the attitude of untruth.”
Some online have raised the suggestion that this was a kind of soft-firing of Taylor, perhaps even a cultural difference in how this is handled, where Western companies would simply say they wanted to go in a different direction. Either way, there’s been a significant backlash from people online, Taylor’s words kicking up a hornets nest and Kamiya’s response doing nothing to calm them down.
That has spilled over to targeting people not related to the decision in any way. With that in mind Hale also said, “I sincerely ask that everyone 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.
“Finally, I hope that everyone involved may resolve their differences in an amicable and respectful way.”
Bayonetta 3 is launched later this month, coming exclusively to Nintendo Switch on 28th October 2022.
Source: Jennifer Hale
Khaliel
Hellena Taylor is wasting our time. Gamers don’t care about the voice of Bayonetta. She could change voice every game, we wouldn’t care either. The in-game action is the realness, here.