Former Dragon Ball Voice Actress Stephanie Nadolny Claims to Have Lost Roles Due to Vengeful Ex-Boyfriend and Funimation’s “Clique” Culture
Spencer Baculi
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Stephanie Nadolny, the former voice of Kid Goku and Young/Teen Gohan in the Dragon Ball franchise, stated in an interview from earlier this year that she had lost these roles due to the machinations of an ex-boyfriend who was bitter about their break-up.
On February 11th, an interview with Nadolny was uploaded to the YouTube channel of independent collectibles manufacturer Maven Collectibles. In the interview, Maven Collectibles CEO Jason Lee Rosa discusses a range of topics with Nadolny relating to her time in the industry, such as her general experience in the industry and her process of recording the voices of Kid Goku and Gohan:
At one point during the interview, Rosa and Nadolny discuss the reasons behind Nadolny being suddenly replaced in Dragon Ball by Colleen Clinkenbeard in 2010, to which Nadolny reveals that the reason for her ousting were the actions of a jilted ex-boyfriend:
Rosa: “Did you feel like there were any mistakes on your end that could have led to [your being let go]? Because you’re saying this was a rumor from another co-worker that told you and the company didn’t even tell you. So, was there anything that you could foresee that you felt that maybe it was a self-sabotage kind of thing that you did?”
Nadolny: “I think what it was, it’s really hard to prove these kinds of things too, but I had been seeing somebody romantically back from like 2003-2009 and when we split he absolutely, completely freaked out and his ego was effected and he said “I’m going to ruin your career!” So he called all my employers-”
Rosa: “And aired your business. Wow.”
Nadolny: “Yeah, aired my business or whatever. My personal life, some of it true, some of it wasn’t. And so, I think that’s what kind of led to me not being able to reprise my character, was that.”
Nadolny also states that Funimation’s company culture operated as “a clique”, which she believes was also a factor in Funimation’s decision to replace her:
Rosa: “I don’t want to get into it if you don’t want to, and I respect that, it’s none of my business, but I was curious because it must have been some serious stuff for them to think that then.
Nadolny: “It’s like I said, it’s a clique. Some people run around with these people, some of these people have kids together now, and they play together, they go to the state fair together. It wasn’t on purpose, but over time, I kind of got pushed out of that whole clique. And I was trying to just be professional and make it about business, but there’s a lot of people, from what I understand just from making some appearances and things like that, that are still flat-out doing this, like “Hey these are my friends, I’m working with my friends.” I’m happy for them, but I completely feel like I was unfairly pushed out and that my personal life should have had no effect on not being able to come back. Because it really hurt, I had no idea what was going on. I was abused and threatened by this man and he said “I’m going to ruin your career!” and “I’m going to call everybody you ever worked for and just dog you out and brought you out.” So I think that’s why, if there’s any other reason, I guess they call that irreconcilable differences.”
The interview between Rosa and Nadolny has been brought to attention recently due to the recent allegations that Dragon Ball and Vegeta voice actor Chris Sabat has been offering female voice actors roles in exchange for sexual favors, with many speculating that Sabat may have been the “ex-boyfriend” referred to by Nadolny. However, as of writing, no evidence has been presented to support this theory and it has not been confirmed by either Nadolny or Sabat.
Nadolny became associated with the Sabat allegations after a Facebook message surfaced purported to be from Nadolny claimed that turning down Sabat’s advances led to the loss of her Dragon Ball roles and Nadolny’s Twitter profile began to fill with ‘likes’ discussing said allegations. However, the Facebook message was claimed in a confession posted to Kiwi Farms to be from a fake profile created by a fan to promote healthy skepticism regarding her claims, while Dragon Ball and Bulma voice actor Monica Rial subsequently claimed that Nadolny’s Twitter has been hacked, though Rial has yet to present evidence to support this claim.
Nadolny has yet to publicly and verifiably comment on either social media profile or the current situation regarding Sabat and Funimation.
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