Leaked Audio of Dragon Ball Voice Actors ‘Edgy Humor’ Recordings Sparks Controversy
Funimation became a recently trending topic on Twitter after leaked audio of various Dragon Ball voice actors making off-color jokes and statements surfaced on the internet, with many accusing Funimation of hypocrisy due to their cited reasoning for taking action against Dragon Ball Super: Broly voice actor Vic Mignogna.
On August 29th, attorney Nick Rekieta presented several clips during a livestream on his YouTube channel Rekieta Law which featured various Dragon Ball voice actors participating in ‘edgy humor,’ including the use of an anti-gay slur and multiple instances of sexually charged language, as their respective characters from Dragon Ball. (Related: Dragon Ball Super: Broly Voice Actor Vic Mignogna’s Attorney Ty Beard Files Motion to “Disregard Defendants’ Late Filings” And Faces Texas Bar Complaint)
Here’s a link to all the audio that @ToeiAnimation might care about from @FUNimation #toei #funimation #FuniLeaks https://t.co/Z0f5UyVVgN
— Rekieta Law: Speech is Free, but Lawyers Aren’t (@NickRekieta) August 30, 2019
These audio recordings feature outtakes by the voice actors, presumably done during recording sessions, which were intended to be humorous. These include:
- Sonny Strait, in character as Krillin, commenting how hard it is to “keep that b**** on the right” happy, stating it’s “impossible” despite how he continues to “give her food, give her presents, give her rings.”
- Sean Schemmel, in character as Goku, asking a group to “suck me off until I c** all over your faces”
- Sean Schemmel, in character as Goku, using the anti-gay slur “f**” and “f*****” multiple times in reference to Gohan and his attire.
- Chris Rager, in character as Hercule/Mr. Satan, bragging about how he “wouldn’t keep anything from my fans,” “not even this gorgeous c***”.
- Christopher Sabat, in character as Kami, Mr. Popo, Piccolo, Yamcha, Guru, performing a full four-minute scene, complete with sound effects taken from other episodes of Dragon Ball, in which the four characters engage in a various sexual acts with one another.
Voice actors messing around in-character is an extremely common phenomenon which can be seen across the industry, from Tom Kenney swearing in-character as SpongeBob Squarepants, the entire cast of the 2002 Berserk dub substituting their real lines for humorous alternatives, or David Hayter regularly reprising his role as Solid Snake to intimidate with poker opponents or inform fans that they’re missing “the greatest anime expo in history.” (Related: Date Set for Dismissal Hearings as Funimation Provides Supplemental Evidence in Ongoing Dragon Ball Super: Broly Voice Actor Vic Mignogna’s Defamation Lawsuit)
The majority of the outrage against Funimation was not because of the content of the voice actors’ recordings, but because of Funimation’s blatant hypocrisy. One of the regularly cited incidents which led to Mignogna’s firing from Funimation was the infamous “jellybean” story, in which Monica Rial believes that Mignogna eating a jellybean with her name on it and then stating that he “ate” Rial constituted sexual harassment.
Additionally, according to the Funimation employee handbook, sexual harassment can be defined as “Verbal conduct that includes making or using derogatory comments, epithets, slurs, or jokes.” Some fans believe that these other voice actors retaining their positions despite violating Funimation’s own policies more blatantly than Mignogna in the cited incident is unabashed proof that Funimation is engaging in hypocritical practices.
However, some fans took issue with the voice actors’ use of slurs and inappropriate language in a ‘professional’ setting, such as The Lion Guard and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2017) voice actor Yuki Matsuzaki who escalated the issue by alerting Toei Animation, the Japanese studio that produces the Dragon Ball anime, to the leaked audio clips:
英語版ドラゴンボールの声優が、キャラになりきったまま同性のキャラクターが性行為に及ぶ様をあげつらうようなジョークパロディ作品を@funimation で収録していた事が発覚し、大大問題になっています。英語圏で「ドラゴンボール」が終わるレベルの問題です・・・ #Funimationhttps://t.co/bQVLnOqxZ4
— Yuki Matsuzaki 松崎悠希 (@Yuki_Mats) August 30, 2019
Heres’s EXACTLY what I said.
The voice actors of English version of DB had recorded a parody at @funimation which consists of offensive jokes out of same-sex intercorse. It’s a HUGE problem that could end the English DB franchise
. https://t.co/RVUlua7OiA— Yuki Matsuzaki 松崎悠希 (@Yuki_Mats) August 30, 2019
As of writing, neither Funimation nor any of the voice actors featured in the recordings have issued a public statement regarding the leaked audio clips.
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