Bayonetta 3 developer PlatinumGames finally released a statement on Twitter addressing claims by former Bayonetta voice actor Hellena Taylor that she was only offered $4,000 to reprise the titular character.
“We at PlatinumGames offer our sincerest appreciation to everyone who has contributed to creating the Bayonetta series over the years, as well as the community that has served as its foundation,” PlatinumGames’ tweet reads. “We give our full support to Jennifer Hale as the new Bayonetta, and align with everything in her statement. We ask people to refrain from any further comments that would disrespect Jennifer or any of the other contributors to the series.”
A Message from PlatinumGames pic.twitter.com/5ym1JxtBBn
— PlatinumGames Inc. (@platinumgames) October 21, 2022
The former Bayonetta voice actress made waves on October 15 when she released a series of videos on Twitter claiming that she had only been offered $4,000 to reprise the role in Bayonetta 3, even after rounds of negotiation and a personal plead to PlatinumGames Vice President Hideki Kamiya. She claimed that Jennifer Hale, the new voice actress behind Bayonetta, had “no right to say she is the voice of Bayonetta” and encouraged fans to boycott Bayonetta 3. This resulted in harassment toward Hale, PlatinumGames, and Kamiya, who put out an odd tweet that seemingly called Taylor’s videos “sad and deplorable about the attitude of untruth.”
The situation continued to escalate, so Jennifer Hale put out a statement (which PlatinumGames references in its own) on October 17 where she says she supports advocating for voice actors to be paid better but is under NDA and “not at liberty to speak regarding this situation.” Further Bloomberg and Video Games Chronicle investigations revealed that Taylor was reportedly offered at least $15,000 to reprise the role but asked for a six-figure sum and residuals.
Ultimately, PlatinumGames’ initial offer, plus another offer for a smaller cameo in Bayonetta 3, was allegedly turned down by Taylor. While Bloomberg and VGC saw official documentation with PlatinumGames’ offer, Taylor claims it’s “an absolute lie” and proclaimed that “I would like to put this whole bloody franchise behind me quite frankly get on with my life in the theatre.” PlatinumGames does not address the monetary value of its offer to Taylor in its statement, so it’s unknown if we’ll ever get an official confirmation of what Taylor was actually offered.
Bayonetta 3 will be released exclusively for Nintendo Switch on October 28.
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