Hellena Taylor, the original voice actress for PlatinumGames’ Bayonetta and one of the parties at the center of a protracted and chaotic public row over casting and wagesShe issued a new statement tonight addressing allegations made against her over the past week.
The saga that has seen Expectations the underpayment made, voice actor abused and a prominent developer temporarily disappears from Twitterbegan when Taylor recently filmed a series of videos in which she accused PlatinumGames of making her an insultingly low salary offer to reprise her role as bayonet for the upcoming third game.
The role was subsequently given to Jennifer Hale—which has made its own statements-while a Bloomberg report said PlatinumGames originally had offered to pay Taylor between $3,000 and $4,000 per four-hour session for a minimum of five recording sessions, for a total of at least $15,000. It says then when Taylor instead demanded a “six-figure sum” to voice the character, but negotiations broke down.
Tonight, Taylor wrote a series of tweets disputing some of the numbers they contained reportsSaying:
I’ve noticed that some people call me a liar and a gold digger. I feel the need to defend myself and my reputation in the industry.
As I posted in part three of my video thread. I explained that their first offer was too low. The offer totaled $10,000. Remember, this is a $450 million franchise (not counting merchandise). I then wrote to Hideki Kamiya in Japanese and asked what I was Value. I thought that as a creative he would understand. He replied how much he appreciated my contribution to the game and how much the fans wanted me to voice the game. I was then offered an extra 5,000! [Note: it appears this is a typo, and that Taylor means 5,000]
So I declined to voice the game. I then didn’t hear from them for 11 months. They then offered me a flat fee of $4,000 to speak a few lines. All other lies, like 4,000 for 5 sessions, are pure fabrications.
There were no “comprehensive negotiations”. I was also informed of ridiculous fiction, such as asking for $250,000. I’m a team player. I only asked for a fair living wage commensurate with the value I bring to this game.
I was paid a shockingly low total of £3000 for the first game. Second, a little more. I wanted to give her a voice. I’ve piqued interest in this game since I started on Twitter in 2011.
