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Funimation has removed voice actor Vic Mignogna from The Morose Mononokean 2, the second season of the supernatural comedy anime. In addition, the distributor told Polygon that it has ended its relationship with the voice actor, whose popular work also includes Fullmetal Alchemist and Dragon Ball Super: Broly.
“Following an investigation, Funimation recast Vic Mignogna in Morose MononokeanSeason 2. Funimation will not be engaging Mignogna in future productions,” Funimation told Polygon in a statement.
Fans of the show noticed that Funimation removed Mignogna from the role of “The Executive” over the weekend, replacing him with Ian Sinclair. Anime News Network first reported the news then as well.
Mignogna worked closely with Funimation throughout his career, starting with the role of Dragon Ball’s Broly in 2003. This comes after Rooster Teeth replaced Mignogna from RWBY on Feb. 5 following sexual harassment and homophobia allegations, as well as anime fans’ claims of his unprofessional behavior at conventions. Rooster Teeth published a blog post to announce that it had ended its relationship with the actor.
As Polygon previously reported, while these claims go as far back as 2010, they started to gain momentum around the mid-January release of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, in which Mignogna voices the titular character. Anime News Network published accounts from several con-goers about Mignogna’s behavior shortly after.
Now Mignogna’s fellow voice actors and industry professionals are making similar claims on social media, with a handful of notable figures sharing their own stories about Mignogna. Voice actor Monica Rial (Case Closed, Fullmetal Alchemist) tweeted about her uncomfortable experience with him, prompting other voice actors such as Miles Luna(RWBY), Cristina Vee (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir), and Christopher Sabat(Dragon Ball Super) to offer their condolences and support.
Dropping in to say this: stop harassing my friends and colleagues. You want the truth? IT HAPPENED TO ME! I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this but here we are. I don’t owe you anything but if it’ll stop it from happening to someone else, then so be it.
— Monica Rial (@Rialisms) February 6, 2019
Voice actor Jamie Marchi (Fruits Basket, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt) also shared her own story about an encounter with Mignogna that she had previously stayed silent about.
“If it had occurred to me, I can’t say that I would have reported [the incident],” Marchi tweeted. “This guy was worshipped by his fans. He was worshipped by the studios because of his fans. He was the most popular voice actor on the convention circuit,” she wrote.
“I struggle with the guilt I feel for being so dismissive of his actions,” she continued. “Had I been able to speak up then, maybe less women would have had to experience what happened when they were unable to get out of Vic’s grasp.”
I stand with the victims. My experience is minor in comparison to many others; however, having realized this wasn’t an isolated incident, I felt compelled to share. pic.twitter.com/qC8Clp7JjQ
— Jamie Marchi (@marchimark) February 8, 2019
As more professionals started to come forward with stories about Mignogna’s behaviour, passionate Mignogna fans started to rally in support of the voice actor. Using the hashtag #IStandWithVic (to oppose the #KickVic hashtag circulating), Mignogna’s most fervent fans came after those who spoke out about him. Voice actor and YouTube creator SungWon Cho (ProZD), who had previously tweeted about Mignogna’s allegations, found a swarm of fans commenting the hashtag #IStandWithVic on his most recent video and attempting to “dislike-bomb” it.
“If your fan-base goes around harassing people who make even a single negative tweet about you, that’s a real bad look,” Cho tweeted.
Although Mignogna responded to and refuted harassment claims after they first gained traction in late January on Twitter, he has stayed off Twitter since then. But over the weekend, and in response to the heated reactions of his fans, Mignogna broke his Twitter silence to urge them to stop.
“I would NEVER condone anything approaching this whatsoever,” Mignogna wrote. “And I call upon anyone doing it to STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY.”
It has come to my attention that there have been threats made toward others by fans in support of me. LET ME BE PERFECTLY CLEAR that I would NEVER condone anything approaching this whatsoever, and I call upon anyone doing it to STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY.
— vic mignogna (@vicmignogna) February 8, 2019
Following this tweet, Mignogna called for love and understanding.
Update: Funimation confirmed that it had terminated Mignogna’s involvement in The Morose Mononokean 2, as well as future projects. We’ve updated the story above to include its statement.
