In mid January, stories started coming out about Dylan “Hazukari” Kielman, an anime congoer who had made appearances on sites/podcasts like Anime News Network (ANN), had been accused of sexual harassment and assault. As evidence quickly piled up, he had much of his past contributions pulled and future events canceled.
Because of this (or at least in part), two writers at ANN wrote an article about accusations against voice actor Vic Mignogna. And what has followed has pulled much of the American anime industry into upheaval — if not war.
I’m not going to recap all the claims. If you’ve missed it, set aside some time to read through the initial report, all the forum comments, and the various follow-up pieces. In short, Mignogna denied the accusations, issued an apology, and followed up later with how he’s seeking help.
Meanwhile, some voice actors recounted their own experiences (and another may get his own ANN article in the near future), the hashtags #KickVic and #IStandWithVic went viral, and Rooster Teeth and Funimation have announced they’re no longer hiring him.
Many of Mignogna’s fans are upset that his career as a voice actor is coming to a screeching halt, if not effectively over. Some claim that these individuals are outright lying, that this was all stirred up by a “hit piece” and backstabbing voice actors; others say that this should be a learning experience for everyone and that he should keep working in the industry.
As a disclaimer, I’ve heard rumors about Mignogna since at least the days of the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime. Not so much about unwanted touching but about his (alleged) diva behavior and religious zealism. Of course, as Mignogna’s fans would correctly point out, these were just rumors. I honestly couldn’t tell you where I’ve heard things from, and I couldn’t even name specific actions.
Now, is it possible that Mignogna is the victim of a vast conspiracy, a pawn in some unsavory persons’ quest for fame? Yes. Does that mean I believe so? No. For the record, I do believe the victims.
But here’s the truth, whether you like it or not: from the moment that multiple people felt like they had an opportunity to speak out, the countdown had begun. He was not going to be working as an anime voice actor in the near future.
The reason is simple: money. No company wants to find out that a top result for one of their employees or affiliates on Google involves pictures of kissing minors. And while sexual harassment claims are notoriously hard to prove, when a plaintiff wins, it can cost millions of dollars — not to mention bad publicity, which leads to decreased revenue. Boycotts may often be unsuccessful overall, but take a convention for instance: even a small dropoff in attendees could mean thousands of dollars lost when any other guest would pull full capacity.
“But there’s no proof!”
Here’s the thing: the companies don’t need hard proof.
Now, most of you are aware of so-called “right-to-work states” states versus “union states”. Texas is an example of the former, California the latter. While unions exist in both, in union states, workers in many industries are required to pay fees to their union. In right-to-work states, they don’t, even though they may get union benefits like a lawyer in case of dismissal. I’m sure many of you have heard arguments like unions make it near-impossible to fire bad workers or without unions people could be fired just because of a manager’s whims.
But despite what some users may claim, neither union nor right-to-work really matters in terms of anime dubs. No matter if a person is a part of the SAG-AFTRA union or not, voice work is usually on a contractual basis. Basically, an actor auditions or is invited to take a role, they sign a contract to get paid for a certain amount of hours, and after that, it’s up to the company to decide whether to call him/her back. It’s no different than, say, making a call to a plumber. You call one (or several), hire one, and pay for them to complete the job if you, but it’s up to you whether to call them again if your toilet stops working.
Which leads to the next part: you don’t need a solid reason or irreversible proof to not call them back. Just like you don’t need a specific incident for why you stop hanging out with somebody or why that one coworker rubs you the wrong way. Even if Funimation (or their parent Sony) didn’t find any hard evidence against Mignogna, they could say that the whole controversy is just too much of a distraction for them to continue a business relationship with him.
“But it’s innocent until proven guilty, not trial-by-Twitter!”
That’s absolutely true…when you’re chosen as one of the 12 (sometimes less in some states) individuals who must decide a defendant’s fate in a court of law. No where does it say that people don’t have a right to a personal opinion on an individual’s guilt. Besides, if you require a conviction on a specific charge as evidence, then I guess Al Capone only forgot to pay some money to the IRS. Casey Anthony makes it normal to not know where your kid is for a month. O.J. Simpson’s If I Did It is a completely hypothetical book.
Are there instances of false accusations and convictions? Yes. One woman in my area has, over the course of years, claimed six different men of raping her; one spent a decade in jail before his conviction was overturned. She was convicted of making up her latest rape claim, and she is due to be paroled soon. False accusations are a thing, and my deepest sympathies to her victims and other innocent prisoners.
However, just because these types of cases do occur doesn’t mean that you — let alone their employers — have to throw their hands up and say, “Who knows?” For the court of public opinion, the same standard as in civil cases (preponderance of the evidence, aka more likely than not) is usually a fair standard. And as a reminder, witness statements and first-hand accounts do count as proof in every court of law. If something comes out to make people reevaluate their minds, then I hope they will.
“But it’s too late! His life is already ruined!”
Well, it’s not like he’s been convicted of anything, so it’s not like he has no hope of a future career. He may be able to find work in voice overs for non-credited appearances like radio or TV ads. He still is a guest at some conventions, and his fans could pay or support him through, say, hiring for lessons or merchandise sales.
Plus, it doesn’t rule out a future return, as some of the men accused in the #MeToo movement are trying to stage or are staging comebacks. Nobuhiro Watsuki’s Rurouni Kenshin: Hokkaido Arc returned after his possession of child pornography conviction (although VIZ Media has not continued with an English version), and Toriko was written a few years after author Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro was convicted for soliciting sex from a minor. Rightly or wrongly, you still may hear from Mignogna in the future.
As a reminder, Funimation themselves did an investigation and thought that it was better to part ways than to keep on a popular, long-time talent.
I’m sure the effects will linger for quite a while as people field questions about why wasn’t something done sooner, but that’s a whole other can of worms. But with multiple people both inside and outside the industry expressing their less-than-thrilling interactions with Mignogna, for now, it was the likely — and, in my opinion, only realistic — outcome. If you don’t think it’s fair, help build a culture where people can share accusations and not immediately be dismissed and where personal boundaries are always respected.