Hellena Taylor not returning to Bayonetta 3 after pay dispute
According to Taylor, PlatinumGames offered her a measly $4,000 to return to the role.
Right from the first official trailer for Bayonetta 3, fans noticed that lack of Bayonetta’s iconic voice actor Hellena Taylor. It immediately sparked theories as to why this was the case, and what it meant for the upcoming game. Taylor recently took to Twitter to reveal why she didn’t return, and the reason isn’t pretty.
According to Taylor, PlatinumGames only offered her a flat fee of $4,000 for the entire project. Considering that her voice is thought by many to be an essential part of the character, it’s an absurdly lowball offer.
Taylor took to Twitter to address the situation and has called on fans to boycott the game. The first of her videos on the matter is below. (Two others are linked to her original Tweet, which you can view below.)
Hellena Taylor’s views on Bayonetta 3
As you can imagine, receiving such a small offer for the third game in a series would feel terrible. Taylor called PlatinumGames’ actions “insulting” and has called for fans to boycott the game. She recommended donating to charity instead.
Bayonetta series director Hideki Kamiya sent a vague but clear response to the situation. Kamiya mentioned (through translation) how it was “sad and deplorable about the attitude of untruth.” He then deactivated his account after receiving backlash for his comments, though the account later returned over the weekend.
It was recently revealed that Jennifer Hale would replace Taylor as Bayonetta in the game. Hale has also responded to the situation on her own Twitter page. She talked about her support for “every actor’s right to be paid well” and mentioned her advocacy for topics like this in the VA community. However, she refused to comment further as she is currently under an NDA. See her full response below:
Neither PlatinumGames nor Nintendo has made an official comment on the matter yet.
What do you think of this situation? Should PlatinumGames have been fairer to Hellena Taylor to keep her in Bayonetta 3? Let us know!
Via IGN.
