It’s been a hot mess these past few weeks for Bayonetta fans. Since the initial Twitter posts by Bayonetta voice actor Hellena Taylor, there have been rumors, allegations, allegedly falsified information, and the series creator, Hideki Kamiya being temporarily suspended from Twitter. We’re here to make some sense of it all.
A Quick Recap
For those late to the controversy, the original voice actress of Bayonetta, Hellena Taylor, released a three-part video appeal on Twitter explaining why she didn’t return for the third game. In short, her claim was that Hideki Kamiya and Platinum Games only offered her $4,000 (USD) to voice the entire game. She asked fans to boycott the game and donate their funds to any charity of their choice in an act of protest on behalf of everyone, regardless of profession, not earning the livable wage they deserve for their talents.
In the heat of the moment, it seemed believable, especially when this has become an increasing problem in the entertainment industry. The translation teams at Seven Seas Entertainment (a popular publisher of manga translated into English) unionized for similar causes. The Jujutsu Kaisen 0 actors claimed that they earned only $150 dollars for their roles in the entire film, which grossed thirty million dollars in the US.
However, in the past few days, responses from both Platinum Games, Hellena Taylor, and anonymous sources have added to the confusion. It’s hard to distinguish between the undeniable truths, reasonable guestimations, and absolute lies.
Hideki Kaniya’s Response
Before his temporary suspension from Twitter, Hideki Kamiya never made a direct public reply to Hellena Taylor but did tweet a few hours after her videos were posted, saying:
Sad and deplorable about the attitude of untruth. That's what all I can tell now.
By the way, BEWARE OF MY RULES.
— 無職 神谷英樹 Unemployed Hideki Kamiya (@HidekiKamiya_X) October 15, 2022
Public responses on his feed ended after this due to his blocking so many people that Twitter’s security flagged him as a bot and he was temporarily suspended for a few days. Upon returning, he refused to make any further public comment.
Jennifer Hale’s Commentary
Shortly after, Jennifer Hale (Hellena’s replacement and the new voice actress of Bayonetta) briefly spoke out, providing some insight. She simply stated that she supports everyone’s “right to be paid well and has advocated consistently for this for years.” Considering the past work she’s done publicly with union formation, it’s possible that if she had been offered a similar supposedly low salary then she wouldn’t have accepted the job. However, due to her non-disclosure agreement, she said she isn’t allowed to say much else beyond this.
About Bayonetta 3: pic.twitter.com/e4VrclEQIm
— Jennifer Hale (@jhaletweets) October 17, 2022
Anonymous Leaks from the Developer?
Here’s where things get hairy. The next day, Jason Schreier from Bloomberg (paywall warning) published an article claiming that they had received proof from anonymous sources that Taylor was exaggerating and that her final offer to voice Baynonetta was $3,000–$4,000 (USD) per session, with a total of five scheduled sessions. This would have amounted to anywhere between $15,000–$20,000 dollars. Other details included “extensive negotiations” between her and Platinum Games, as well as Taylor requesting a six-figure pay (exact amount not stated) with the addition of royalties. The supposed final flat rate of $4,000 was for Taylor to perform a small cameo role with a single recording session, after Platinum Games had moved forward with recasting.
Given that the sources were anonymous, it left questions regarding the legitimacy of the leak. That was until Taylor commented on this claim over the next several days.
Hellena’s Current Stance
In the same article, Taylor had reportedly responded to Bloomberg via email, calling these allegations “absolute lies.” However, a few days later she once again took to Twitter to address these accusations publicly.
As I posted on part three of my video thread. I explained that their first offer was too low. That offer was 10,000 dollars total. Remember, this is 450 million dollar franchise, (not counting merchandise.) I then wrote in Japanese to Hideki Kamiya, asking for what I was
— Hellena Taylor (@hellenataylor) October 24, 2022
worth. I thought that as a creative, he would understand. He replied saying how much he valued my contribution to the game and how much the fans wanted me to voice the game. I was then offered an extra 5,0000!
— Hellena Taylor (@hellenataylor) October 24, 2022
Disregarding the typo, Hellena revealed that her initial offer for Bayonetta 3 — before contacting Hideki Kamiya — was $10,000 and that the final offer was $15,000. She confirmed that $4,000 was, in fact, for a separate role despite her original three-part video clearing saying:
“The final offer to do the whole game as a buyout, flat rate, was $4,000 US dollars.”
While some might excuse her first tweets as poorly worded statements, Taylor let Bayonetta fans believe that she was talking about voicing the main character. She never once mentioned being asked to perform a smaller cameo role until new evidence was brought to the table. In retrospect, this seemed to be a ploy to spark emotional outrage from her fan base.
She went on to double down on dispelling most other parts of the anonymous leaks, claiming that there were no extensive negotiations and that any remark of her asking for “$250,000 dollars” was “ridiculous fiction”; a number that had never been mentioned until now.
There were not “extensive negotiations.” I’ve also been informed of ridiculous fictions, such as I asked for 250,000 dollars. I am a team player. I was just asking for a fair, living wage in line with the value that I bring to this game.
— Hellena Taylor (@hellenataylor) October 24, 2022
As of now, no further developments or concrete documents have surfaced. Meanwhile, Bayonetta 3 has launched for exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
