Original Bayonetta Voice Actor Responds To Backlash, Confirms She Was Offered $15k For Bayonetta 3

Voice actor Hellena Taylor has commented again on the drama and controversy surrounding Bayonetta 3, defending herself against people calling her a "gold-digger." At the same time, she revealed new details about the contract negotiations with Platinum Games, confirming that was she was offered a total of $15,000.

In a Twitter thread, Taylor said she wanted to defend herself and her reputation as people call her "a liar and gold-digger."

To quickly recap--Taylor originally said she was offered $4,000 to appear as the voice of Bayonetta in Bayonetta 3, a figure she said was "insulting." Veteran voice actor Jennifer Hale was later hired to voice Bayonetta 3. After Taylor's claims went viral, Bloomberg published a report that said Taylor was offered around $15,000, a figure Taylor has since confirmed to be accurate.

In her new Twitter thread, Taylor said she was initially offered $10,000 total to play Bayonetta in the third game, but she deemed it to be too low and wrote a letter to Bayonetta 3 director Hideki Kamiya asking him to pay her what she was 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," she said, adding that Platinum Games offered her an additional $5,000 for a total of $15,000

"So, I declined to voice the game. I then heard nothing from them for 11 months. They then offered me a flat fee to voice some lines for 4,000 dollars," Taylor said.

The "some lines" quote may pertain to the claim from Bloomberg's report that Taylor was offered a cameo role in Bayonetta 3 after she was replaced by Hale.

Taylor went on to say that she has been made aware of what she described as "ridiculous fictions" about her contract negotiations, including that she asked for $250,000. "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."

The Bloomberg report said Taylor asked for a six-figure fee and residuals to appear in Bayonetta 3. Finally, Taylor said she was paid a total of £3,000 ($3,400 USD) for the original Bayonetta and a "little more" for the sequel.

Taylor multiple times claimed that the Bayonetta series has brought in $450 million. Reporter Jason Schreier, who authored Bloomberg's report, characterized this figure as "fictional (and frankly absurd)..."

For context, Sega published the original Bayonetta, before the series changed hands to Nintendo for Bayonetta 2 and Bayonetta 3.

In the wake of Taylor's original Twitter claims, Platinum Games put out a statement in support of Hale, who received a wave of criticism and backlash. Taylor, who quoted the Bible in her original Twitter videos and called Jesus the "greatest moral teacher," has faced backlash as well. She also said she experienced anxiety and suicidal thoughts.

Bayonetta 3 launches on October 28 as an exclusive for Nintendo Switch.