Hellena Taylor has urged players to boycott the next game saying she was offered an “insulting” pay offer
Hellena Taylor who voiced Bayonetta has released a series of videos on Twitter explaining her reason for not returning to the role.
Taylor claims PlatinumGames offered a flat rate of $4000 to voice the character in the upcoming Bayonetta 3. She was replaced by Jennifer Hale of Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic fame after declining this opportunity.
When the developer of the game PlatinumGames announced this news earlier this month, they cited “various overlapping circumstances” that made it “difficult” for Hellena to play Bayonetta this time around.
Taylor disputed Platinum’s narrative on social media more than a week later. She was claiming that the studio wasn’t completely honest about what truly transpired.
Taylor claims that the studio only offered her $4000 which was an insult as she spent years working on her craft.
Below is one of Taylor’s Tweeted Videos explaining the situation:
PlatinumGames stated at the time:
“We held auditions to cast the new voice of Bayonetta and offered the role to Jennifer Hale, whom we felt was a good match for the character. I
understand the concerns some fans have about the voice change at this point in the series, but Jennifer’s performance was way beyond what we could have imagined. I’m confident that her portrayal of Bayonetta will exceed our fans’ expectations.”
Regarding this decision, Taylor said:
“I understand that boycotting this game is a personal choice, and there are those who won’t. And that’s fine.
But if you’re 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. I decided to do it to stand up in solidarity with people all over the world who do not get paid properly for their talents.
Fat cats cream off the top and leave us the crumbs. I worried that I was going to be on the streets. That terrified me so much that once I was suicidal.
I am not afraid of the non-disclosure agreement. I can’t even afford to run a car. What are they going to do, take my clothes? Good luck to them.”
Although Hideki Kamiya hasn’t personally released a statement regarding the situation he did release a tweet stating:
Hale has also received “all the best” wishes from Taylor. Although she was less complimentary about what Hale’s acceptance of the post would entail.
Taylor stated regarding this that Hale:
“has no right to say she is the voice of Bayonetta, I created that voice. She has no right to sign merchandise as Bayonetta, any more than I have the right to sign as Eva Green even though I was her parent on video game The Golden Compass. That betrayal is hers, and hers alone. They’ll probably try and do a spin-off with Jeanne. Don’t buy that either.”
If any party chooses to retaliate in response to Taylor’s speaking out, it would appear that this scenario has the potential to become nasty.
Only time will tell how the story will unfold but we will be sure to keep our ears open for any breaking news regarding this story.