On January 16th, the latest Dragon Ball motion picture, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, debuted in American theaters. The film, which introduces popular fan favorite character Broly into the current canon, features the voice talents of Sean Schemmel (Goku), Christopher Sabat (Vegeta), Chris Ayes (Frieza), and Vic Mignogna as the titular Broly.
In the lead up to the film’s premiere, allegations of inappropriate behavior began to surface against Mignogna. These allegations claimed that Mignogna made frequent sexual advances towards multiple underage fans, with some allegations dating back as early as 2009/2010. Accusations of homophobia and regularly abusive behavior towards con staffers were also leveled towards the prominent voice actor.
In response to these allegations, on January 20th, Mignogna posted a public statement to his Twitter account:
— vic mignogna (@vicmignogna) January 21, 2019
Following this statement, many fans began to tweet with the hashtag “#KickVic” in order to bring awareness to the multitude of stories being shared. Others stood in staunch defense of Mignogna, with a counter hashtag, ‘#IStandWithVic’, being used to show support. However, support for Mignogna was less than organic, as leaked screenshots revealed that Mignogna was instructing his private fan club, the ‘Risembool Rangers’, to actively combat the accusations on his behalf.
Some fans claim that Mignogna’s conduct is an ‘open secret’ within the anime industry. In 2011, a tumblr blog titled ‘Dear Vic Meggnogna [sp] (and other VA’s)’ was created in an effort to chronicle stories from the public regarding Mignogna’s actions. Dragon Ball Super: Broly co-star Sean Schemmel was also publicly ‘liking’ numerous tweets featuring the #KickVic hashtag.
When approached by Polygon for comment, Funimation, the US distributor for Dragon Ball Super: Broly, declined to issue a statement.