Hellena Taylor has been at the center of a firestorm after she made claims about not getting an adequate offer for voicing Bayonetta in the threequel, which is why she turned down the role. It’s a very long and winding story, but as it stands now, Taylor is still looking for fans to boycott the game.
In a series of tweets today, Taylor was asking fans to skip purchasing Bayonetta 3 and instead take their money and donate it to charity. You can see the message from Taylor in full below.
My posts have hit a nerve with people. Low pay resonates not just in the gaming industry, but in the wider world beyond, all over the planet. To donate your boycott money, there are many small local charities that need your help. Food banks, homeless charities, children’s charities, animal charities.
Alternately, buy homeless people coffees, or bake/buy a cake for a lonely elderly neighbour. Buy a bunch of flowers and give one to people who look sad on the street, without saying a word. We must care for people. So many ideas once you start…
Here are the 14 that I donated 100% my video game conference autograph signing fees to, if you need some inspiration. @MSF_USA @TheSilverLineUK @HumanimalTrust @PetsforVets @LAMDAdrama (Student Pizza Fund) @DogsTrust @TeamRubicon @BB4LifeKY @TheHALOTrust @StMonica90403 @KCFoundationUK @acn_uk
One of the charities suggested by Taylor has caused quite a ruckus on Twitter. While most are organizations supported by many, the inclusion of Billboards 4 Life has turned heads. For those who don’t know, Billboards 4 Life is an anti-abortion organization.
Regardless of your personal feelings on abortion, I think we can all agree that the topic is one that’s always hotly debated. That’s especially true in today’s climate, and now it’s become part of the Bayonetta 3 debacle. Definitely not a direction anyone saw coming for this entire mess, but here we are.
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malikhalo
I disagree that no one could've seen it coming. I think after all those tweets she definitely comes off as someone who would suggest donating to an anti-abortion organization.
mereel
1+ y agoWow this saga has officially gone off the rails. Slightly related, but I’m surprised to see how poorly this game fared on its Digital Foundry analysis. I still want the game, but I’m surprised the performance issues noted by DF didn’t come up in more reviews of the game.
kuribo
1+ y agoTaylor….dig up stupid!!
malikhalo
1+ y agoI disagree that no one could've seen it coming. I think after all those tweets she definitely comes off as someone who would suggest donating to an anti-abortion organization.
What's that supposed to mean? I'm Pro-Life, and I think she's an attention seeking narcissus. The two are not related, dippy.
I left it vague on purpose.
Good on you, but that doesn't mean those people don't exist.
ngamer01
1+ y agoHellena is risking Platinum's retribution. They can always remake Bayo 1 and 2 with Jennifer Hale and never pay Hellena again by way of never rereleasing the original Bayo 1 and 2.
aussiemcbucket
1+ y agoI think this direction with the charities is odd because of her point of focus from the beginning of all this. Donating to charities can certainly be a good cause for many. However, it's interesting that she originally was complaining about the purported meager amount she was offered for her role. Adjacent to that argument, she seemed to be making a case for underpaid voice actors (and possibly contract/freelance workers) everywhere. So, she recommended that all potential buyers of Bayonetta 3 boycott the game, else the perpetrators of injustice be paid for their sins. Next, she recommended that her boycotting brethren donate that money to restore the karmic balance. Yet not one of her charity examples was an organization that protected or aided the people for which she was claiming to be a freedom fighter, in the first place. She also might have directed people to purchase the earlier Bayonetta games, to help restore the finances she believes she was owed. Of course, that also would have paid Platinum, so maybe purchase other games to which she lent her voice. Or games to which other struggling voice actors contributed great work.
I don't know. I'm being a bit dramatic, though it seems appropriate to match her energy. And I am sympathetic to the greater cause she has shed a light on. But her story just keeps getting more complicated and feels more and more like she is mostly complaining and looking for a stage. Regardless of her intentions, I have trouble following the clear through-line to this story.
nin2000
1+ y agoMy opinion of Hellena Taylor has completely changed, from thinking she was greedy and seeking attention, I now have much respect for her speaking against, albeit subtly, the greatest evil in modern times (at least in the west).
I think the gaming journalists sided with Platinum Games and they may have been influenced to score it a little better to help fight back against Hellena's call to boycott the game.
I watched the Digital Foundry video as well. How reviewers gave it a PERFECT 100, with those technical issues, I don't know. But sites like Nintendo Life have always kissed Nintendo's behind. And others like The Guardian and The Telegraph, what do they know about gaming?
enthropy
1+ y agoThe problem is that Taylor LIED and tried to throw others, the entire team and even her VA colleague under the bus and then play victim. That's just bad.
It's obvious that Platinum wanted her back, wanted to give her an extra 5000 bucks even bur she declined. So they got another VA who, as mentioned several times, does a fantastic job!
" so maybe purchase other games to which she lent her voice. "
But she has never done any other gaming VA than Bayonetta. It's not like she's has a big history with this.
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